The Ventura County Star article by Zeke Barlow - "Plunging prices for recyclables are hurting businesses" - explains how recycling companies and individuals are challenged by the drop in metals, plastic and paper prices. The concern is that many of these materials will end up going back to the landfill for wont of buyers willing to pay salvage costs.
The real and fundamental problem is that the current prices of the original raw materials do not reflect their true extraction and production costs; the production and distribution of the raw materials are heavily subsidized. This makes the apparent cost of recycling significantly higher. However, if the true costs of the raw material extraction were priced in, this would not be an issue.
How do we move from an energy and material subsidized economy to one in which we pay real value for the goods we buy? Furthermore, how do we do it in the middle of this economic climate when long-range planning has taken a backseat to the here and now?
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