![]() ![]() To implement a true circular economy, we need to systematically and automatically reuse most of the material placed in our trash bags. Recycling is a great tool of environmental education, and it does help divert waste from landfills, but it is not going to bring us close to a circular economy. While per-capita production waste seems to have stabilized, it represents a huge amount of material, and it is essential that we figure out how to reuse it. As our population has grown and consumption has grown, so too has our garbage. Garbage must be collected and then brought to a facility of some kind to be treated, burned, or dumped. The generation rate was 4.9 pounds per person per day in 2018, an 8 percent increase from 2017…Over time, recycling and composting rates have increased from just over 6 percent of MSW generated in 1960 to about 10 percent in 1980, to 16 percent in 1990, to about 29 percent in 2000, and to about 35 percent in 2017…Landfilling of waste has decreased from 94 percent of the amount generated in 1960 to 50 percent of the amount generated in 2018.” ![]() In 2000, it reached 4.74 pounds per person per day and then decreased to 4.69 pounds per person per day in 2005. It increased to 3.66 pounds per person per day in 1980. Generation of MSW increased … from 88.1 million tons in 1960 to 292.4 million tons in 2018… The generation rate in 1960 was just 2.68 pounds per person per day. “Over the last few decades, the generation and management of MSW has changed substantially. In the United States, more and more of our garbage is “treated” rather than landfilled, but America still has a massive problem with solid waste production and disposal. But the reasons that various recycling efforts have often faltered are (1.) the difficulty of assuring a “clean” waste stream uncontaminated with materials that don’t belong, (2.) the uncertain market for recycled materials, and (3.) the cost of multiple garbage pickups. We should do all we can to use current technology to recycle as much as we can: especially food waste, aluminum, and rare earth metals that have a market value and are cost-effective to recycle today. The technology of anaerobic digestion and composting is known and available. New York City is gradually rolling out food waste recycling, and that is long overdue.
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