Research

My Research Paper on Recycling

From my first article I learned about two things in the importance of education of recycling, education and awareness programs and curbside education. There are many educational and awareness programs on recycling. For example, Keep America Beautiful and Nestle Waters North America, both involved in a program called Recycle Bowl for schools. “Recycle-Bowl is a free, friendly competition and benchmarking tool for kindergarten through high school recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities across the country,” says Michael Washburn director of sustainability for Nestle Waters North America. “School recycling programs across the nation compete in a race to collect the most recyclables, with prizes offered in each state and Washington, D.C., and to the national winner.” (Education important for recycling efforts, 2011, By Jessica Jacobsen, Beverage Industry, pg. 42) I also learned about curbside education, the Aluminum Association, and the Curbside Value Partnership. “This program looks to increase the recycling rates of all beverage containers whether they’re aluminum, glass, or plastic because recycling is obviously important to all of those, and when you go to a city or municipality, they want to increase the recycling rate across the board, not just with one container,” says Stephen Gardner, vice president of communications for the Aluminum Association. (Education important for recycling efforts, 2011, By Jessica Jacobsen, Beverage Industry, pg. 43)

In my second article I learned about our paper recycling being sent to China. I found the reasons for our paper recycling being sent to China are the costs of labor and shipping are higher if kept in the US.   “The most beneficial use is not collecting it, shipping it to China and then having it shipped back as containerboard,” says Steve Silver, president and CEO of recycled paper producer FutureMark Paper in Alsip, IL. “Our customers are some of the greenest...