NERC in the News
Recycling Is the Vermont Way
Bennington Banner, December 16, 2008
Burlington Free Press, January 7, 2009
By Carolyn Grodinsky
Over the past 20 years, Vermonters have enthusiastically embraced recycling and — more importantly — what it conveys, that we care deeply about the health of our environment and are making the effort to preserve and enhance it.
It's true — the prices recycling centers can get for recycled materials fluctuate all the time and they are currently at an all-time low. But bear in mind they will rise again (and when they do, we will have an established recycling program in place to capitalize on them). Moreover, the cost to simply throw away trash does not fluctuate; Vermonters pay about $100 per ton simply to throw stuff away.
Reuse and recycling save energy, reduce greenhouse gases, conserve resources and landfill space, and are a vital part of Vermont's economy. A study by the Northeast Recycling Council in June 2000, found that the recycling industry is a $44 billion dollar industry in the Northeast, with more than 13,000 recycling and re-use businesses employing more than 206,000 people and paying wages in excess of $6.8 billion.
In 2006, Vermont's recycling programs reduced greenhouse gases and saved energy — equivalent to 18,289,126 gallons of gasoline and representing the amount of energy that would be required to power 21,890 Vermont homes for one year.
One of Burlington's leading reuse businesses, ReCycle North, employs more than 45 people who sell, repair, and provide job training for its used household goods, electronics, appliances and used building materials departments.
Finding uses for materials collected through Vermont's recycling programs provides ample new business opportunities that have yet to be fully exploited. For example, about 30 percent of the state's waste could be composted or used to generate energy. Farmers could use food scraps for composting or energy production; they could sell the compost itself or use it to improve their own soil. They could use the energy they produce on their farms to lower their own energy costs or they could sell it to electric companies.
Reuse and recycling create far more jobs than simply sending our trash to landfills does. According to the Institute for Local Self Reliance, for every one job at a landfill, there are 10 jobs in recycling processing and 25 jobs in recyclables-based manufacturing.
While recycling is important, the greatest environmental and economic benefits however come from not creating waste in the first place. For example, reducing product packaging and buying products that are built to last, reduce transportation costs (as there is less product to ship and more durable items don't need to be delivered as often), and reduce the energy required to make, distribute and, ultimately, dispose of products.
In sum, reuse and recycling play major roles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing Vermont's green economy. As important, they promote the values we cherish and the natural beauty of our state.
Carolyn Grodinsky is a waste prevention coordinator for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation at the Agency of Natural Resources. She lives in Montpelier.
