Throughout every community, in the US and the world, there are individuals, commercial enterprises and industries that service segments of the many recycling activities. These segments are called niches.
With 7.2 billion people on the world there are tens of millions of people actively involved in some aspect of recycling. Those willing and able to actually perform recycling services come in many guises. They are scavengers, finding value in items put out on curbs or tossed in garbage bins. They are independent garbage haulers, cherry picking worthwhile items their clients toss away or providing recycling services for individuals, commercial enterprises or industries who want to save money disposing of unwanted materials.
They can also be people who work for municipalities or counties providing garbage or recycling services, picking up garbage and recyclables transporting them to landfills or transfer stations, where the easy stuff is collected into separate piles, to be transported to scrap dealers or intermediate processors.
Scrap dealers come in all sizes, from the little guy who handlers $100,000 or so a year to multi billion dollar operations like Weitsman who is buying up scrap yards all over the east Coast. Scrap dealers sell to intermediate processors or refineries who separate materials into higher value and more pure categories.
Metals are ferrous and non ferrous. Non ferrous are aluminum, brass, copper and many other types; these are sold as “clean” and “contaminated.” The same is true of other materials, primarily plastics and glass, which have markets although glass is more limited. There are many materials that could be recycled if they were separated into more homogeneous, cost effective piles that industry could use and if primary materials suppliers could depend on a continuous supply.
“That's what I hope to do in this area,” says Les Platt. “Identify and put in place mechanisms that will give the general public a vested interest in accumulating cost effective lots of recycled materials.”
There are currently many pieces already in place. Individuals, organization's and churches have rummage, lawn and garage sales. Many non profit and profit making operations have thrift or second hand stores. Used equipment and vehicle enterprises are prevalent in every community. Clothing collection often involves donation bins; some of these pay clubs, groups and organizations to help promote them.
It's easy to see from all this the many jobs, occupations, careers, business opportunities, and industries currently involved with recycling enterprises. Less obvious are the obstacles to more effective recycling.
It's human nature to take the easy road. So it's no surprise that that's what happens with recycling. From the scavenger on up the chain the more visible, profitable, easy stuff is recycled.
Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle are buzzwords that encompass everything from battleships to paperclips, and yet we need a rhetoric that average people can relate to.
In general, nearly everything is made of materials that can be reused. In reality most products are made of a variety of materials in too small quantities to be cost effectively recycled. Broad categories are excess production, overstock, used products, ferrous and non ferrous metal, plastics, glass, wood, and composite materials. These, in turn, break down to undamaged or damaged goods, clean or dirty materials, mixed or pure materials. Most of these have market values that reflect their usefulness or value. With the exception of finished goods these values are some percentage of virgin materials. Virgin materials are those materials supplied directly from the mines, refineries, lumber and textile mills, petrochemical producers or composite manufacturers.
“We need to set up a system that highlights the opportunities and helps interested individuals perform the services necessary to optimize recycling. To do that we need to understand the processes and economics involved, which is why I am calling for students and community members to create study groups to understand the economics of recycling,” states Les Platt.
Les and others are planning a meeting to discuss a Recycling Study Group. Watch this space for details.