Nov 03 2008

Economic Woes Spread to Recycling Industry

One of the latest victims of the economic downturn is commodity recycling, according to an article that appeared over the weekend in the Contra Costa Times. Over the past six weeks, the price for recycled cardboard has plummeted from $200 a ton to $30 to $40 a ton.

Adding insult to injury, buyers are scarce. Recyclers in California's Contra Costa County are looking to lease warehouse space to store their recycled goods that would normally be gobbled up by China. China, which is the top consumer of recycled fiber worldwide, uses the recycled material to prepare packaging for all its exported products. October through December is usually the busy period for this industry due to the holidays. But now, not only has the demand for these goods dropped precipitously, many ships are being sent back or remain anchored off China's coast with no buyers.

Recycling plays a critical role in diverting the amount of waste we put into landfills. It also helps to save energy:

Posted by: Jennifer Zerwer | Comments (0) digg delicioussend to a friendprint entry

 


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  • This is being rather generous to Lutz. 1. The "Volt", in no small part, will be targeted as a product to people who care about energy and environmental issues. These people don't embrace Lutz' antideluvian concepts of rejecting science. How responsible is it for a GM executive to be rejecting the science? 2. As well, Lutz didn't exactly sound too enthusiastic about the Volt itself. 3. And, GM public communications has 'defended' Lutz in rather absurd ways. -A Siegel
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  • This article is right on - small businesses have a huge role to play in sustainability. Not only do they add up in aggregate, but many small businesses operate in industries that can have a significant environmental impact depending on the exact practices, like dry cleaners, auto repair shops, etc. Green is also starting to affect the bottom line more and more, customers are increasingly voting with their feet for more sustainable businesses as can be seen from the growth of sites like http://www.ecovian.com. This is also a huge opportunity for small businesses to leapfrog their bigger brothers by being more agile in adopting these measures. -Emily
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  • Great entry, Katie. Love the level of detail you managed to get in there! Probably won't be able to compete with coal and oil any time the next decade, but definitely a great technology to look into! Keep it up :) -Rune (Norway)
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