Search

This article discusses the negative ramifications of paper recycling. Paper recycling does not necessarily save trees, says A. Clark Wiseman, an economist for Resources for the Future, an environmental think tank in Washington. Most recycling programs involve extra trips to pick up wastepaper that consumers have sorted. Recycling can misuse resources, including human resources. Recycling paper is inherently neither good nor bad. Some recycling has gone on for years, and it will continue where it makes economic sense. But to pursue recycling simply because it sounds appealing is bad economics and poor environmental policy.