Don’t let this happen to you. If you are involved in a recycling operation, one of the worst things you can do is let the perception of “junkyard” persist. Junkyards are seen as shady businesses which are less than ethical in the way they operate. Especially in today’s economy, nobody can afford to run this way. Just like this company in Ohio is going to find how expensive their inaction really was, you might find yourself facing the same kind of music.

The antedote for these possibilities is to clean up the physical appearance and then maintain the highest levels of integrity with customers, vendors, government agencies and employees. It might cost you a little more than you feel like spending up front but the long-term benefits far outweigh the initial costs. On the flip side, the long-term consequences of letting things continue to slide could include the demise of your business. It’s your choice – now do something about it.

Ok, this is so bogus. How in the world can they come up with these numbers when they don’t even know what technologies are going to be the most effective? What happens if the money is invested in technologoies and projects that aren’t efficient? Do their numbers still hold credence? It sounds to me like some people are scared because the recession, lower oil prices, and some of the the coldest recorded temperatures in certain areas in decades have caused a reduction in the amount being funneled to research climate change. So, they use a marketing tactic by making this bold, sweeping statement saying we have this small window of opportunity in hopes of securing more investment dollars for their research.

Believe me, I favor finding ways to decrease our use of carbon-based fuel. I believe there are health risks and possible climate changing repercussions if we don’t. But I don’t believe these numbers have any credibility other than in the “it makes sense that the more we spend and the quicker we spend it, the greater chance for success we have” sort of way. There are just too many variables.

Even though steel production was down in November, scrap iron prices actually went up in December. From the reports I have read, it appears US steel mills will take some additional time off here at the end of the year, which should push prouction down even further. Which leads to the question of what caused the upswing? Recycling Today didn’t have an answer – do you? Whatever the reason, here’s hoping that it is a trend that will continue, especially as the steel mills resume production in January.

We get asked quite regularly why we aren’t more active in recycling plastics. It all boils down to economics. And if the economics don’t match up, you end up with dismal failure. Many people have pushed for mandated percentages of plastics recycling in many areas around the world and some in some places, percentages have been set with deadlines for compliance. What none of the people involved in legislating such mandates have considered is what happens when the price bottoms out? You get lots of collected material sitting around that nobody can ship. Businesses go belly up because they can’t sell their overpriced inventory. There is a lot more consideration to be made than simply our desire to recycle all the materials we can.

If this becomes reality, it would be a definite boon to US recyclers as it provides some additional margin to those shipping scrap overseas. And, as more material begins to flow to China, the supply to domestic mills decreases, allowing the prices to begin to rise. Earlier today, I was asked what gift or wish I would like for Christmas, well, this seems to have risen toward the top.