Recycling

I just came across this news story on recyling. That is when I realized I didn’t really understand the difference between recycling and redeeming. I think redeeming bottles means one can take a bottle to a store a receive the deposit for it (typically five cents here in Mass.). Recycling (as implied by the article) is when a truck comes by and picks up recycled items, typically stored in a separate container.

Of course, everyone has their take on it. The homeless want more opportunities to make a nickle. The state sees this as a revenue opportunity, because they make money on unreturned bottles. The environmentalists love the idea, because every effort should be made to recycle anything that can be recycled – even when recycling consumes more energy. And finally, there are those that believe deposits on bottles (paying people to return bottles) takes away from other recycling efforts.

Is it possible to determine if recylcing simply makes sense? I recall the effort to recycle started as a way to preserve natural resources and limit waste. Those items were not really discusssed much in the story.