“If you believe that recycling is good for the planet and that we need to do more of it, then there’s a crisis to confront,” stated David P. Steiner, the chief executive officer of Waste Management, the largest recycler of everyday trash in the United States (Tierney 1). Most people assume that recycling is excellent for the environment and reduces the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air. They believe that it also reduces the amount of waste we throw out. Others object that thought and say that recycling is not reducing greenhouse gases. They speculate that it is harmful the ecosystem. Recycling and composting is too expensive and is damaging to the environment. The price of recycling is too costly for local areas in the United States.“Profits across the recycling industry have been in free fall, due to technical challenges, changes in both …show more content…
Around the world, composting facilities congregate complaints of nauseous odors, defecating sea gulls, and masses of unsanitary rats (Tierney 3). Not only could the waste cause disease, but if an inspector finds an animal carcass in a ton of recyclables then workers will have to throw the ton out or it will have to go through the facility again. Landfills are a better solution to this problem. For example, for the next one thousand years all trash thrown out by Americans would fill one-tenth of one percent of land that is available for grazing (Tierney 3). The landfill is not just a waste of space either. Normally after landfills are full, they will cover it with grass and then it will turn into parkland (Tierney 3). Not only that, but in landfills operators store the greenhouse gas methane produced from the waste and then use it to generate electricity (Tierney 3). That way, instead of producing more air pollution by using electricity made from coal, they harness the pollutants in a way that helps out the environment even