Being Green Hits Skids

Cross posted at The Next Right

From Natural Resource Report:

Being Green Hits Skids: Once thought to be the first green industry, recycling is the first environmental business to suffer the US economic recession. US manufacturers that use recycled materials don’t need much because US consumers are buying less. China & India have nearly stopped buying scrap paper and metals. The result is huge surpluses and low prices for recycled materials nationally. Wastepaper selling for $110/ton in Oct. has dropped below $20, metals have dropped by 80%, and plastics down by 90%. And because some states (incl. OR) prohibit landfilling recycled material, stockpiles are growing, collectors are losing money, and future markets are in trouble. So-called “forest protection” will likely suffer the same affordability problems as recycling. Because such a severe economic slide has not occurred since envoronmentalism rose in the 1970s, Americans will be tested to see at what cost “being green” will be sustained.