If we can recycle paper, it means fewer trees are cut down to make new paper. If we recycle plastic, it removes a waste product from the environment that will take decades, if not longer, to decompose.
Locally, recycling lessens the flow of garbage heading to the landfill. The less garbage in, the longer a landfill cell will last as a storage spot for our community’s garbage and that means the City has to invest less often in commissioning new cells.
Given new environmental regulations, landfill expansion is increasingly expensive – Yorkton’s new pit cost the city $5.6 million – so they want to be able to use it for as long as possible. That is a cost saving, which is good news for a city where there are numerous projects in need of funding, including our sewers, streets, and sidewalks.
So, common sense tells us recycling is a positive thing for our city. To the credit of the community, the opportunity to recycle has existed for years. Yorkton has had a curbside recycling program for over a decade, allowing people to just toss their recycling in front of their homes once a week, to be picked up by the youth in the Prairie Harvest Employment Program.
Having the Prairie Harvest Employment Program involved is another major plus for the overall recycling initiative as it creates entry level employment for those needing an extra hand to get into the workplace. Now, more than a decade into a worthwhile program, the city is looking to boost participation.
Research has also shown that few people can live without using plastic products in their everyday life. Widely used in packaging, building, electronics, healthcare and consumer products, many plastic products improve our quality of life. However, as the use of plastics has soared over recent decades, plastic waste has also become an environmental challenge.
Thailand is on track to become a major global manufacturing hub. With a wide range of products being manufactured and sold, tonnes of plastic waste will also be generated in the kingdom. As the economy continues to grow, Thailand is in a good position to turn this challenge into an opportunity with its many environmental policies and plans in place. Plastic waste recycling is a key pillar of the plan.
In addition to managing the use of plastic, we see plastic recycling as a critical part of building a sustainable society. What some people see as plastic waste is a valuable resources for recyclers. Plastic waste can be recycled to produce high quality plastic raw materials and regain its hidden economic value. Not only does this reduce the burden of managing plastic waste disposal, it also significantly reduces carbon emissions as recycled plastic can replace virgin plastic produced through petrochemical processing.
Guest Editorial