RECYCLING MUST BE DONE -- BY OUR GOVERNMENT
One day in 1970, picking through a wrecked-car lot looking for a tail-light
fixture for my Volvo, I had an idea then that so many things,
nearly
everything we use ought to be recycled or repurposed somehow.....and
that if everyone did it we could save money and create less waste and more
jobs.
Of course, it took decades before people smarter than I figured out how to
do that, and make it economically feasible. The CRV tax on cans and
bottles was born, glass got collected, re-purchased and reprocessed. Soon
after, it was paper & cardboard. At first people resented the CRV
because it was a tax , and they knew they'd probably not redeem the plastic and
cans anyway.
But then things began to change, and the awareness of pollution and waste
piling up helped change people's outlook and habits. Meanwhile, just about
every industry has added packaging on top of packaging - mainly with non-CRV
plastics - to the point where we are all inundated with useless pieces of
plastic on everything we buy. There is no end to this in sight .
Meanwhile, Planet Earth is facing another crisis. We have been
recycling so well over the last decade that there is nowhere to put it
all, and it's become more costly to recycle it than to throw it in the
landfills. Turns out, we consumers are separating our trash from our bottles
and papers but then they are all going into the landfills anyway. Recent
articles in the LA Times and carried on Spectrum TV News have alerted us to the
fact that the U.S. Recycling Industry has reached critical mass -
literally. It no longer pays for them to keep collecting, sorting , bundling
and transporting the recycled waste of plastics, paper goods and glass; and there
are not enough ways to re-purpose it once it gets to where it's supposed to go;
and if there were it has become too costly to re-purpose everything .
Additionally, China has just stopped taking our plastic waste, meaning 50% of
it has nowhere to go now, except to the dump.
Furthermore, our Planet has a gigantic problem with plastic floating in the
Ocean in alarming quantities. It's not just whales and dolphins consuming
floating plastics that is a problem, but plastics have actually formed floating
plastic islands, one of which is as large as the State of Rhode Island .
Experts warn us that the equivalent of 2 two dump-trucks per minute of plastic
is going into the Ocean. This is unsustainable. Our Eco-system is already
threatened by Climate Change, and now this. Like Mercury, the fish are eating
the micro-plastic in the Oceans and we are eating the fish .
These problems are Society's problems. The human race created these waste
products and only we as a whole can solve them. Individuals can reduce their own
footprint a bit, but the footprint of a Nation is much harder to reduce. This
problem is too big, and too disastrous to allow it to go unresolved because of
economics of business. Saving the Planet should not be an economic decision.
Recycling to save the Planet for future generations, should not have to turn
a profit. But today, the Re-Planet corporation (under contract with the
Cities) has decided to close most of its retail collection stations in
California, making it impossible for consumers to do anything but throw
their recyclable plastics ( #1 & #2 ), cans and glass into the trash again.
At the same time , the # 5, 6 , and unnumbered plastics were not being
recycled, but tossed into the landfills where they will take up to 1,000 years
to breakdown. Now, with nowhere to send them and no-profit in recycling
them , even #1 and # 2 bottles are going in the trash. This cannot be good for
Mother Earth. Meanwhile, we are still paying our 5-cent CRV tax per
bottle, but not able to redeem them. Thus, the Recycling we pay for is
no longer being done. So where are those CRV monies going now?
So - my idea now is that the State of California needs to establish a new
Agency: A Recycling Department. To help pay for it we put a CRV tax on all
single-purpose plastics not currently recyclable, all styrofoam cups &
boxes and packing peanuts; as well as the plastics used in packing and
over-packaging consumer goods. Tax the bad stuff more than 5 cents, or make the
manufacturer pay the tax on things that don't break down, ever.
This new Recycling Department needs to set up local recycling centers around the State, probably apportioned by population and by County. Let the local municipalities create Recycling Depots like the ones that Waste Management is closing, but that also take batteries & styrofoam, as well as glass, metal, wood & paper. These centers should not only collect and refund consumers for their
CRV tax, but also deliver the recycled goods to manufacturers that will
scientifically re-purpose it all. If there's not enough profit to sell the recyclables, let companies have it for free, as long as they re-purpose it.
If there is no profit in it, so be it. If there's a loss, so be it. Saving the our rivers and oceans, the land, clean water and air do not have to turn a profit. What cannot be recycled, ought to be safely deposited by the States into
remote landfills that do not needlessly impact water supplies or wildlife.
To those who say we already have enough Government, I say this: Sometimes we need Government to serve us, and take care of what individuals and businesses alone cannot do. Like the Post Office, the Police & Fire Departments, our roads and bridges, the Coast Guard and the military - we pay them to do all that work for the common good. It is not Government's job to make a profit.
It is our job to make Government work for us, and for Mother Earth. .
We need to look at worldwide pollution problems the same way, starting here in our State, and elsewhere around the Nation. Furthermore, recycling by the States will create steady, good paying jobs in a growth Industry. These jobs will start at minimum wage but scale up like any growing Industry employing thousands in new and important jobs.
Save the Planet, create jobs, re-purpose our waste, reduce our footprint. It's a Win, Win, Win !!
