Recycling, Business of

Numerous products support our professional and private lifestyles. Absent intervention, they will all end up in the garbage at the end of their useful lives. Compounding the situation is society's growing consumptive appetite both for more products, and for different varieties of the same product. A global population that has quadrupled in the last 50 years, possessing increasing material needs and desires, further increases the pressures that will be exerted on Earth's natural resources. Recycling of materials is one piece—along with reduction (of consumption) and reuse (including refurbishment) of products—of the overall approach needed to effectively utilize these resources in a sustainable manner. Because of the greater energy requirements of recycling, it is somewhat less desirable than either reduction or reuse.

Recycling can be defined as the entire chain of activities involved in the collection and utilization of all or part of old products in the manufacture of new products. Therefore, the business of recycling involves all concerns along the recycling value chain, including product design, recycling processes, reliability of secondary raw material supplies, markets for recycled goods, regulatory mandates/legislation, and the overall economics of recycling.

The recycling of materials has long been practiced by individuals out of economic necessity, since the cost of using secondary raw material (scrap) was typically less than the cost of using virgin material. As economies industrialized and manufacturers pursued technological innovation and ever-increasing economies of scale, this relationship frequently reversed. As collection and sale of scrap materials became less profitable, fewer scrap collectors existed. The economic incentive for individuals to recycle therefore declined, rendering it more convenient to simply dispose of end-of-life products, further reducing the viability of the recycling business. Although recycling had been part of the framework of daily life, the habit thus diminished. Recycling received a significant boost during World War II for patriotic reasons—as a means of providing materials for the war effort—but again declined in the postwar period. Interest revived with the growth of the environmental movement in the 1970s. Concerns about declining availability of landfill space, water and air pollution from landfills and incinerators, and resource depletion led to the initiation of municipal recycling efforts. These in turn increased the supply of postconsumer materials, necessitating the need for more use of [Page 410]such materials in products, thereby “closing the loop.” Increased material complexity of products has complicated recycling and affected its economics, however.

Approximately 120 million kilograms of Hewlett-Packard products are recycled annually. Here can be seen a bin full of green envelopes that contain used printer cartridges

Source: Hewett-Packard