Recycling in New York proves expensive

Archiv – According to a report from the New York City Independent Budget Office, the cost of recycling metals, plastics, paper and glass is exceeding the cost of landfilling or incinerating it. According to a report from the New York City Independent Budget Office, the cost of recycling metals, plastics, paper and glass is exceeding the cost of landfilling or incinerating it. In 2003, New York City’s recycling bill worked out some US$ 35 million higher than conventional disposal would have cost. When city residents were recycling 20% of their waste, it cost US$ 34-48 per tonne more to recycle the material than to send it off to landfill or for incineration.
The cost of paying two uniformed sanitation workers for an eight-hour shift spent collecting recyclables is the same as the cost of paying them for an eight-hour shift collecting refuse but yields fewer tonnes of recyclables, the report notes.
The results were based on a non-partisan evaluation of both waste management techniques. It weighed the costs per tonne of disposing of refuse against the costs of recycling it – as well as the costs to the city of abandoning recycling altogether.