Waste as defined by Webster's Encyclopedic Dictionary is "to employ without giving full value or being fully utilized or appreciated".
Isn't it time we recognized the full value of recycling?
We can no longer afford to view recycling merely as a waste management option. Recycling is a serious business with opportunity for growth and need for innovation. And innovation is one of key engines of economic growth.
Now that a base has been secured, it is time to turn our attention to making the industry more sophisticated and efficient. Tools to increase the efficiency, like the CBOT Recyclables Exchange, are rising. The recent workshops on the Exchange put on by the Recycling Council of Ontario and MOEE, were well attended by private sector and municipal operators. Clearly the recycling community is eager to upgrade their knowledge and skills.
Glass Works asked William Ferretti, Director of Recycling Market Development for New York State what activity the Exchange was seeing on glass. His response was "very little". However, he speculated that the reason in Canada could be the history and consistency of the market. At the request of recyclers, Consumers Glass' Product Stewardship Program provided security against the volatile material price fluctuations other materials exhibit thus eliminating risk and uncertainty for recycling programs.
With this foundation recycling can prepare itself to take a leap forward into being a significant business and enabling communities to leverage new sources of supply to attract business to their community. Hence recycling is becoming an economic development benefit for a community . Other entities are recognizing this and are preparing their people to support this opportunity. In Canada, members of the Economic Development Council of Ontario (EDCO) have been scrutinizing recycling as a business opportunity as part of an overall assessment of the environment industry. In the States one program in particular caught Glass Works' attention. Newark, New Jersey's Planet Newark program is an excellent case study that proves recycling can play an important role in economic development.
John Ghaznavi, Chairman and CEO of Consumers Packaging, has issued a challenge to the markets - help develop a sustainable system for recycling!
"To progress, we need more glass. We also need stable, consistent supplies of recycled glass. The glass making process isn`t like turning a thermostat up and down. The furnaces need, complex, time-consuming adjustments to use a certain pre-determined quantity of cullet in the manufacturing of new containers. "
In the Summer 1995 issue of Glass Works, Consumers Glass Director of Public Affairs, Doug Symington, stated that "glass recycling must become more efficient to remain sustainable."
To meet this goal there must be a change in how the market achieves efficiency, it must become eco-efficient.
Why? The answer is clear. "Eco-efficiency offers economic development opportunities by focusing on financial and environmental improvements. It involves competitively delivering high quality products and services to the market which reduces the amount of energy, materials and water required to do so."
This is not just wishful thinking on the part of Glass Works or Consumers Glass. This is the direction that is being taken by the Economic Development Council of Ontario (EDCO). (Look for The Eco-Efficiency Resource Manual developed by Thompson & Gow for EDCO to be released February 1996.)
Recycling is a sustainable development opportunity whose time has come.
Copyright © 1996 Glass Works