Although modern urban recycling programs have successfully created a tremendous supply of recycled newspapers, glass bottles, and office paper, when it comes to consumer and business demand for products made from these materials, the economics of recycling falls apart. As David Biddle notes, the present cost of collecting and processing recyclable materials far outweighs their value as a commodity that can be sold back to industry. Yet precisely because of this market uncertainty, companies can seize the competitive high ground. Farsighted players have already found profitable openings. There's clearly consumer demand for green products, and Rubbermaid, Moore Business Forms, International Paper, and others have dramatically increased market share with appropriate offerings. In addition, top managers of companies like Bell Atlantic and Coca-Cola have made buying recycled products and investing in green R&D part of their business strategies. Through such efforts, business leaders help to challenge current recycling myths, including the supposed high price and low quality of recycled products. While public policymakers are still trying to assess what's wrong with recycling programs, corporations are in the best position to take the lead. More important, given the potential profits to be made and the tighter government regulations that are sure to come, it's in their economic self-interest to do so. The Buy Recycled Business Alliance, which includes Bank of America, America Airlines, and Anheuser-Busch on its steering committee, indicates how profits and social responsibility may come together in the 1990s. INSET: The High Cost of Processing What's Put Out on the Curb. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]