Researchers from the University of Florida compared the economic and environmental value of community recycling efforts and compared it to the value of other climate change mitigation practices.
They found that recycling provides a return on investment similar to or better than environmentally friendly strategies like transitioning to electric vehicles or electricity from renewable energy sources.
“Eliminating recycling squanders one of the easiest opportunities for communities and citizens to help lessen the impact of climate change and reduce our demands on natural resources,” said Timothy Townsend, a professor of environmental engineering sciences at the University of Florida and one of the study’s authors. “Recycling won’t solve the problem alone, but it is part of the puzzle.”
In recent years, towns and cities across the US have cancelled or scaled back recycling programmes due to rising costs. Recent restrictions on recyclable material collected...