Most people will proudly say that they recycle,
however few people have heard of a MRF (pronounced “murf”). MRF stands for
“material recovery facility” and they play a critical role in the recycling process.
But before I go further, I challenge you to take a minute and think about how
much you know about the recycling industry. I confess that before a field trip
to the Madison County Solid Waste Facility last Friday, I was ignorant about recycling
and did not understand the distinction between “single-stream” and “dual-stream”
recycling systems. However, choosing one system over another has important
implications and, therefore, we should all be informed on where our trash ends
up beyond the recycling bin.
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Upon reading an article about a new
waste disposal law in Lewis County, I began thinking about recycling practices
in the Adirondacks. Currently, the Development Authority of the North Country
is reimbursing counties for switching to single-stream recycling (Virkler). Though
the national trend towards single-stream recycling is prominent, the switch has
negative consequences and, therefore, the Adirondack region should reconsider this
change. In a single-stream system, individuals place paper, plastic, metal, and
glass recyclables into a single recycling bin. These recyclables are separated
later at the MRF. In contrast, dual-stream systems keep paper separate from
other recyclables before they reach the MRF. The advantage of single-stream
recycling is two-fold: one, single-stream makes recycling much easier for the
individual because he/she do not need to separate his/her paper, glass, and
plastic before throwing it into the recycling bin. Two, municipalities save
money because they only need one collection truck to transport recyclables to
the MRF. Proponents of single-stream recycling argue that this simplification
of the recycling process increases recycling volumes overall and reduces high recycling
collection costs (Chameides).
However, those opposed to single-stream
recycling present a salient counterargument: someone,
or something, eventually has to separate the recycled material. Skeptics of
single-stream recycling also claim that the quality of the recyclables produced
by the single-stream is compromised. When material reaches the MRF, machines
and humans sort through the recyclables. Once sorted, these recyclables are
compacted into bales that are later sold to recycling companies. Though
single-stream recycling induces higher volume of recyclable material, it does
not necessarily mean that the collected recyclables are actually being recycled
because recycling companies will not take low-quality bales (Laskow). This begs
the question of whether or not single-stream recycling is superior to dual-stream
recycling.
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| Material Recovery Facility (MRF), Wikipedia |
Similar to the national trend, Hamilton
College follows the single-stream recycling system. I am interested in finding
out why Hamilton uses single-stream instead of dual-stream recycling. I speculate
that Hamilton and the Development Authority of the North Country have similar motives:
economics. Although I cannot deny that saving money is a strong incentive, I
also would argue that fully informed Adirondackers highly value the environment
and may not support single-stream recycling at the cost of their recycling
quality.
Works Cited
Virkler, Steve. “Lewis County clear trash
big requirement takes effect Friday.” Watertowndailytimes.com.
Watertown Daily Times, 12 April 2016. Web. 16 April 2016.
Laskow, Sarah. “Single-Stream Recycling
is Better for Consumers, but Is It Better?” Theatlantic.com.
The Atlantic, 18 September 2014. Web. 16 April 2016.
Chameides, Bill. “Single-Stream Recycling.”
Huffingtonpost.com. The Huffington
Post, 19 November 2013. Web. 16 April 2016.
Single-stream clip art: http://www.johnsrefuse.com/Portals/156306/images/single-stream-recycling-in-ct.jpg
This is a great topic! I never really thought about what happens to my recyclables after I place it in the blue bins. I definitely did not know that there were two different types of recycling systems. I like that you presented the cons and pros of single-stream and dual-stream recycling systems because it really helped me understand what the differences between the two recycling systems are. It seems that dual-stream recycling is better than single-stream, but I don't think people will be willing to separate their trash.
ReplyDeleteThis controversy is definitely something that people should be thinking about and trying to figure out. I understand why single-stream seems like a good idea, but at home we have dual-stream and its really easy, and not very time consuming, to sort the recyclables. People who are interested in recycling and helping the environment likely will take the extra 30 seconds to sort their recycling.We probably wouldn't be turning many people away by switching back to dual-stream.
ReplyDeleteRecycling in the Adirondacks seems to be a big issue in general. I mean, like any tourist-heavy area, there are large amounts of people in the park for short periods of time, during which they may not take the time to find the recycling facilities at the places where they're staying. Lots of areas don't have regular garbage and recycling pick ups, (such as areas that may be filled with rental cottages on private roads, for instance.) I wonder how recycling rates in the park compare to the rest of the state.
ReplyDelete