Recycling has been the most publicized solution to reduce the solid
waste stream. But for reasons involving practical difficulties, costs; and
resistant American lifestyles, only about 11 percent of American trash was
recycled in 1993. Despite such deep-rooted obstacles, recycling has grown
steadily in the United States and other MDCs. Taken together, the propor-
tion of glass recycled between 1980 and the mid -1990s rose from less than
20 percent to over 50 percent. The recycled proportion of metals
Americans used rose from 33 percent to 50 percent between 1970 and 1998.
Furthermore, around the world, the proportion of paper and cardboard
recycled grew from 38 percent to 41 percent between 1975 and 1995 and is
projected to reach 46 percent by 2010. Recycling is being transformed from
a gesture to help the environment into a solid industry. The reasons are
that the economic recovery in the 1990s increased demand for raw mate-
rials and that manufacturers built mills that can process recycled mate-
rials. It was often more profitable for them to do so (Gardner and Sampat,
1999: 45; Matoon, 1998: 144; New York Times, 1994). While most environ-
mental scientists view recycling as a positive step, it developed in relation- ..
to rising landfill costs, not to environmental damage. Current recycling of
materials like glass, aluminum, paper, and plastics is based on economic
rather than environmental criteria, and other hazardous substances are
not recycled. A product is considered recyclable only if it is economically
profitable, and we have been less willing to bear the costs of materials that
were not.