Stossel’s Flawed Recycling Story

Emphasis Came Out Wrong

By now, tens of thousands on social media have been “recycling” John Stossel’s report on recycling.

His general focus is correct. Recycling is good for many items, but most plastics are not recyclable or not worth recycling. However, on emphasis, Stossel appears to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as the saying goes. I found his take to be a bit harsh.

Also, the value of recycling can really depend on how easy it is to obtain the original material. Do you live near an aluminum mine? What was the expense of digging the aluminum up, producing a product, and putting it on your table? Merely the expense of mining aluminum makes recycling it beneficial and you can make money off it. Recycling one aluminum can save the same amount of energy as a half of gallon of gas (https://www.perplexity.ai/search/how-much-energy-is-saved-in-re-WFQeg55wTDarvRS6kHk4gw#0).

This is true of all metals, including the unworkable string of Christmas lights which contain copper. Recycling metal is less expensive than mining it. Did you know an Omaha company recycles such lights for charitable causes (https://www.scrapcentralrecycling.com/light-drive.html)?

The same goes for paper and cardboard but the return is not as great. If you have forests near you being used to make paper, it may be completely pointless. However, recycling large amounts of paper and cardboard is worth the effort. So, when you can, put that toilet cardboard roll in the recycle bin. It will save energy. But Stossel’s video appears to mock the concern. Yes, recycling can go overboard. Recycling glass can be helpful but you need to do it by the ton, which often makes it unfeasible to recyle. What holds glass recycling back is it is very heavy to transport.

So why the Stossel video? Most plastics are not recyclable in any shape or form as Stossel mentions, but some common ones are. If you see 1 or 2 on the plastic, recycle it. Recycling means you are creating a resource to be used.

But all other plastic really should just be put in the garbage. Yet people really hate plastic. It is such an annoyance, from plastic bags to those alcohol shooter bottles. Well, at least you can give your plastic bags to your friend who has a dog. They could use the bags to pick up after their dog.