While the financial crisis is seeing people tightening
their belts and consuming less, which isn't such a
terrible thing in terms of the environment, it's also
having a negative impact on the profits of those
involved with recycling.
I visit our local recycling center each month and it's
always interesting learning a bit more regarding how the
industry works and the types of bucks involved. It's a
great center - noisy, smelly, but the guys there are
great - my last trip there I had 4 workers waiting to
unload my measly haul! Even on busy days, they are ultra
efficient.
But maybe this level of service might not continue for
much longer if commodity prices stay low.
For example, copper became incredibly valuable,
achieving up to USD $4 a pound. Copper was so sought
before the crunch, I remember our electricity company
posting 24 hour guards on a large spool of copper wire
when doing some work across the street from us. In
Adelaide's Northern suburbs,
copper cabling was stolen
from an electricity substation,
live
cable that is, causing blackouts in a few suburbs.
The thieves weren't all that bright - it was at the time
that copper was crashing in value. China started winding
back development and Wall Street wobbled, with copper
bottoming out at $1.50 a pound.
It's a similar story
with some other recyclables.
Aluminum (or aluminum as they say in cans were worth a
buck a pound back in August, they are now under 80
cents. Steel cans were up to $450 a ton, now down to $50
- $100 a ton.
My aging mini-van is destined for the recyclers at some
point. Back in July, the recyclers would have given me
AUD $800 for it - now, $200.
In the USA, I've read that some recyclers are now
refusing to take cardboard and
paper - there's just no cash in it. Some
recyclers are having to pay to have paper products
carted away. Others are suggesting that this waste
should be burned in incinerators to generate
electricity.
It's a shame.
However, the situation does underline the very important
point about the 3 R's of going green - which are Reduce,
Reuse and Recycle. There's a reason why Recycle is the
last of them - it not only requires a good deal of
energy to recycle, it's also reliant on there being a
healthy market for the items.
