Recycling
Should our democracy require manufacturers to recycle their products?
The amount of trash that human societies create is alarming. This contamination ultimately harms plants and animals, including human beings. Some governments are trying to reduce the waste created by human activities. Reusing materials when manufacturing products is one way to do so. In the 1980s, the Swedish government threatened to ban the use of aluminum beverage containers unless the industry managed to reclaim 75 percent of its products. The goal of such a policy is to give manufacturers an incentive to think about the well-being of the environment when they design and select materials for their products.
Lessons
Resources
Articles and Papers
- “European Union world leader in paper recycling, thanks to voluntary commitment of paper professionals,” European Technologies Action Plan Newsletter (Brussels, Belgium: European Commission, January 2007)
- Franklin, Pat. “Extended producer responsibility: A primer,” Take It Back! 1997 Producer Responsibility Forum (Alexandria, VA: Raymond Communications Inc., 1997)
- “Frequently asked questions about recycling and waste management” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2006)
- Hileman, Bette. “States strive to solve burgeoning disposal problem as more waste ends up in developing countries,” Chemical & Engineering News (San Jose, CA: Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, 2006)
- Jordan, Chris. “Plastic bags,” Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait (2007)
- Munger, Michael. “Think globally, act irrationally: Recycling” (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2007)
- Sander, Knut, et al. “The producer responsibility principle of the WEEE directive” (Okopol, Germany: Institute for Environmental Strategies, 2007)
- Stiffler, Lisa. "State debates who should pay for e-waste," Seattle Post Intelligencer (January 7, 2006)
