Re: [greenyes] Percentage of recyclables ending up in landfill

["Eric Lombardi" <eric@no.address>]

Bill,

In our neck of the woods, Denver/Boulder, we don't have any end-use buyers
within 1,000 miles except one (a bottling plant that buys recycled
glass).... yet, in my 14 years of running Eco-Cycle we have always sold
everything we collected.   So, the answer to your question from me is "zero
wasted recyclables" !!   Plus, it is my impression that my peers around the
country have always been able to sell as well.  The prices aren't always
great, but hey, that's the nature of the "secondary materials commodity
market."

I consider the re-tooling of American industry that buys all of the
collected post-consumer recycled items one of the great environmental
success stories of all  time, anywhere on the planet.  The rest of the world
is also moving forward with this trend and the numbers just keep on
increasing.  Truly, the world of commerce understands that "nothing is waste
until it is wasted."   The challenge now is to re-design our discard
collection systems such that the material value is protected and the
transportation costs keep dropping.

Eric Lombardi
Executive Director
Eco-Cycle



-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Walsh <billnjayne@no.address>
To: greenyes@no.address <greenyes@no.address>
Date: Saturday, August 16, 2003 7:33 AM
Subject: [greenyes] Percentage of recyclables ending up in landfill


>Perhaps someone can help me with this.
>
>Once recyclables are picked up at the curbside, what percentage of the
>different products (aluminum, PET, HDPE, glass, paper) end up in the
>landfill anyway because they are not purchased?  Are there any statistics
on
>this?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Bill Walsh
>Lombard, IL
>
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