Recycling and Environmental Sustainability

Paper Summary:

This paper relates that recycling has been accepted in every major city as a way of enabling people to actively participate in increasing environmental sustainability and in reducing waste. The author points out that the idea behind recycling is to reduce the amount of waste to be dealt with through burning or landfill, as well as the amount of energy needed to produce goods to replace what is wasted. The paper also looks at the argument put forth by critics of recycling, which states that recycling may be more of a "feel-good" matter than a program achieving real value and the argument of supporters of recycling who see a value even if recycling does not solve all environmental problems.

From the Paper:

"A concern is that the EPA will not do a real job of oversight when an administration, such as the current Republican administration, does not want the recycling program to work or be found to work so that a different set of criteria are used in judging the system. Administrators can always change the criteria so as to make a program seem to be failing, and people will believe that the program has actually diminished in effectiveness because they think the same criteria are used now as were used last year."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hershkowitz, Allen. "In Defense of Recycling." Social Research (22 March 1998). November 21, 2006. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20574337.html
• Khator, Renu. "Recycling: a Policy Dilemma for American States?" Policy Studies Journal (22 June 1993). November 21, 2006. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14482635.html.
• Leroux, Kivi. "Recycling's War of Words." Waste Age (1 April 2000). November 21, 2006. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-62790639.html..
• Puder, Markus G. "Sounds of Silence: What Happened to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Hazardous Waste Recycling Program Reform?" Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy (22 September 2000)). November 21, 2006. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-78475639.html.

More papers on Recycling and Environmental Sustainability:

• Research Paper # 45934 : "Environmental Management"
• Persuasive Essay # 108444 : "Sustainable Textiles"
• Persuasive Essay # 100923 : "Sustainability, Waste Management and Incineration"

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