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Alanna Carey
Prof. Goeller
Eng 1101
23 November 2020
Mandatory Recycling- Yea or Nay?
How many people choose to recycle? How many people choose to throw
everything away? There are many cities in the USA where citizens do not have a
choice. That is right, there are places where recycling is mandatory. The people living in
those cities do not have a say in this law, and, yes, technically, it may violate their civil
rights. However, this may not be as horrible as it seems. Recycling profits the US and
its citizens, and making recycling mandatory would be a very good choice. Mandatory
recycling has a multitude of benefits that will help create a cleaner, healthier America.
Mandatory recycling may reduce the amount of pollution released into the air.
There are many people who state the fact that recycling produces air pollution, which is
true. The process of recycling does produce a tiny bit of air pollution, however, landfills
and incinerators also pollute the air. Landfills produce methane gas and incinerators fill
the air with smoke and harmful toxins. Recycling may produce some air pollutants, but it
mainly helps the earth. For example, “manufacturing glass from recycled materials
reduces air pollution by 20 percent, and using recycled aluminum and paper can reduce
air pollution by 95 percent” (Bratcher). This shows that there could be a drastic
difference in the amount of air pollution if recycling was made mandatory.
Recycling can also produce more jobs. Currently, the average recycling rate is
about 34%. If that measly 34% was brought up to 75%, it would result in approximately
1.5 million more jobs (Bratcher). Also, “waste disposal generates the fewest jobs per ton
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of waste at 0.1 jobs per 1,000 tons of waste, while recycling generates 2 jobs per 1,000
tons” (Bratcher). This means that recycling creates about twenty times more jobs than
waste disposal. With more jobs available, more people have an opportunity to provide
for their families.
Additionally, recycling helps save natural resources, such as trees and water
supplies. Trees, a large factor in many products, are beneficial and important to the
environment. They provide oxygen, they produce shade, and they dispense rich
nutrients into the soil. If people recycle an item made from trees, such as paper or
cardboard, it can be reused over and over again. However, if people just throw those
things away, more trees will need to be cut down to provide extra materials the next
time someone needs something that is made from trees. A good deal of water goes into
the production of paper, in fact, it takes ten liters of water to make just one sheet of
paper (Paper Making). That means that it cost about 2,630 liters of water just to make
the “English Composition at Sinclair” textbook. When people do not recycle things that
use water in their production, they are wasting the limited amount of water on this
planet. “Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil,
three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water.
This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air
pollution” (USI). While trees and water are renewable, there is a high chance of running
out of non-renewable resources, such as oil, if people do not start doing something to
save them. Recycling is a good place to start.
Nevertheless, there are some things about recycling that are not so wondrous.
First of all, items that are made from recycled parts are generally more expensive. For
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example, an item with non-recyclable plastic packaging often costs less than the same
thing with eco-friendly, recyclable packaging. Also, recycling sometimes wastes time.
“Seattle Public Utilities researchers (in collaboration with University of California, Davis)
conducted a survey in 2005 that indicated 98 percent of Seattle households participate
in the curbside recycling program, and that 16 minutes are spent recycling per
household. The city contains 260,000 households, which means each week Seattleites
spend almost 8,500 work days recycling.” (Thayer) However, sixteen minutes is not
much time out of a twenty-four hour day. Also, if recycling is made mandatory and
people are forced to recycle, some may claim that it undermines civil liberties. But is it
really wrong? Masks were made mandatory in the state of Ohio, and some may argue
that is also a violation of civil rights, but it is a precaution to protect others. Recycling is
not much different! It will help with people’s health, since it makes the air cleaner, and it
is also just a common courtesy. If people are required to wear a mask when entering a
store, then it is not too much to require people to recycle.
In conclusion, the pros of recycling definitely outweigh the cons, and it would be
a good choice to make recycling mandatory. If all of America’s population recycled, it
would make a drastic difference! The air would be much clearer, because most of the
toxins produced by landfills and incinerators would be gone, and it might even help
reduce global warming. Although the air in the USA is already fresh, it could be so, so
much cleaner if some of the processes that produce harmful air pollution are reduced. If
more citizens of America recycled, it could help America create new jobs and lower the
unemployment rate. Also, recycling is good morally. If a person recycles because they
love the earth, and they watch what kind of things they buy, such as whether the item is
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recyclable or not, then that person impacts the earth greatly. Everyone should care
about the earth, and one of the ways of showing their feelings is by recycling. It is sad
that many people in this country do not recycle, but if recycling is made mandatory, then
maybe more people will realize the significance of recycling. Mandatory recycling has a
multitude of benefits that will help American citizens create a better environment to live
in. So, should recycling be made mandatory in the USA? Yes it should.
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Works Cited
“Paper Making: What Makes Paper Production Such a Wasteful Process?”
Paper / on the Rocks, 22 Mar. 2019, paperontherocks.com/2019/03/22/water-
waste-paper-industry-what-makes-pulp-paper-production-thirsty-
business/#:~:text=The%20average%20amount%20of%20water. Accessed 24
Nov. 2020.
Bratcher, Rory. “Recycling Vs. Landfills or Incinerators.” Sciencing, 25 Apr. 2017,
sciencing.com/recycling-vs-landfills-incinerators-23884.html. Accessed 23 Nov.
2020.
Thayer, James. “Mandatory Recycling Wastes Resources.” Weekly Standard, edited by
Margaret Haerens, 25 Jan. 2006. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010301232/OVIC?
u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=a9ee9dd2. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020.
USI Web Services. “Paper Recycling Facts - University of Southern Indiana.”
Usi.Edu, 2000, www.usi.edu/recycle/paper-recycling-facts/. Accessed 2 Dec.
2020.
