Plastics recycling: Economic and institutional issues

Abstract

There are two major objectives of this paper. The first is to discuss the quantities of plastic wastes that are candidates for different types of recycling process in the coming decade. The second objective is to discuss the major economic and institutional incentives and barriers faced by different private- and public-sector decision-makers when considering plastics recycling. Projections made by the author indicate that the total quantity of plastic wastes entering a recycling or waste-disposal stream will continue to rise during the coming decade — increasing from an estimated 33 billion pounds in 1984 to about 47 billion pounds in 1995. Postconsumer wastes will grow more rapidly than manufacturing waste and by 1995 should comprise about 92% of the total. While packaging will remain by far the largest single source of plastic wastes, plastics from the construction sector will grow most rapidly in percentage terms. It is argued that technical and economic problems associated with the separation of plastics from other materials and the separation of individual plastic types will limit plastics recycling outside of the municipal waste stream to between 22 and 26% of the total quantity produced. It is further argued that the degree to which the private sector adopts new technologies to recycle this 22–26% will be determined in large part by the economic and institutional incentives and barriers faced by the different groups that must individually or collectively participate in a recycling operation. In most cases, successful operations have been functions of institutional conditions rather than technological fixes. Finally, it is suggested that the public sector's involvement in, and support for, plastics recycling will be a function of the continuing debate about the environmental consequences of plastics disposal versus recycling. While government intervention can be argued for on other grounds — in particular the subsidization of waste disposal — the uncertainty about the environmental implications of plastics disposal, as well as some forms of recycling, will be important in formulating a public response to the issue.