Should America be the Scapegoat for the Whole Worlds Eco Failure? Global Recycling and Waste!

Unlike aluminum, steel, glass, and paper, plastics do not melt down and become usable materials again. In the case of plastics, either return to glass containers as was common 50+ years ago (with deposit charges to encourage returning the glass to the store) plastics will have to be downgraded and used as filler material. Take all plastics as they are, melt them down, grind it up, and pelletize it into pieces suitable for roadbeds, landscaping fill, and even filter media. Melting and high compression can create plastic bricks which could be used in place of clay bricks in some applications. But, it must be compulsory to use recycled materials whenever possible.

The great flaw in recycling is the idea that it can pay for itself. That is the neocon perversion of economics and reveals serious flaws in how things are priced and how negative externalities are written off. What is needed is to declare that waste is pollution (Captain Obvious) and economic concerns needn't be considered. Pollution must be dealt with and it is the State's obligation to not only reduce the waste being dumped but, to reduce the demand for virgin materials wherever possible. If incorporating recycled materials into production creates additional cost, that is because those hidden costs of dumping onto the Commons is now being rediscovered and priced in. Let the additional costs come out of the CEO's and senior exec pay and make that a LAW requiring corporations to impose haircuts at the top first.