Just because an overall balance of environmental good arises from recycling, doesn’t mean that rainbows and cinnamon buns come out the smokestacks of recycling plants. Some of the by-products of the recycling process are actually considerably more toxic than some of the most hazardous wastes out there.
Consider, for instance, the sludge that results from paper recycling. Many tons of this paper-fiber bio-solid, as it’s called in the industry, are generated each year from all the inks and dyes that are used on paper products. It is usually burned in a landfill incinerator prior to being buried.
Metal recycling also produces a large amount of waste ash, with each cycle, removing a considerable amount of material from each cycle as much as 15-20% in some cases. All this left-over material has to go somewhere, but it can only be reused once the toxic components have been removed. Ultimately, these wastes contribute a more concentrated form of these wastes to landfills.
