[greenyes] recycling program cutrailments

["Wayne Turner" <WAYNET@no.address>]

Greenyes Colleagues,

Over a week ago I posted a query on this list serve asking for
information on any recycling programs that had been curtailed or
terminated due to fiancial/budget problems by the supporting
jurisdicition.  Several Greenyes subsribers have asked for me to share
my findings.  Interestingly enough, the response was negligible.  NYC,
of course, was mentioned, but beyond that, only two other responses were
received.  I find this interesting if the responses, or lack thereof, on
this list serve are any indicator of the overall health of recycling
programs.

There have been more than a few instances of healthy skepticism
expressed on this list serve during the time I've been a subscriber.  I
myself have, at times, expressed skepticism over the long term viability
of recycling programs that are not cost efficient.  There have been
numerous debates about the overall health and vitality of recycling
programs and what we can do to make them more efficient and effective to
ensure their survival during budget crises.  But it appears that even
when our budgetary backs are against the wall, as has been the case in
the last 2-3 years, local governments have not offered up recycling
programs as sacrificial lambs; or else they have and the elected
officials have chosen not to dismantle the programs.  Whether it is
bureaucratic protectionism, political realism or simply good program
management that has allowed recycling programs to remain in place, it
gives me hope that they have now become institutionalized to the point
of being like other classic government programs, characterized chiefly
by three things:  their benefits/costs cannot be measured by financial
means alone, they are universal in availability, the funding source is
spread over the entire available user base.  Maybe recycling has become
like public safety and libraries, government services that not everyone
uses every day of every year, but an expected public service
nevertheless.

Wayne