According to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, it costs $11,771,160 to run the recycling program for the state. The recycling plan for the city of Phoenix costs $5,291,000 annually, and Mesa costs roughly $3,364,656. In total, the recycling plans in the Phoenix Metro area saved $2,876,483 from the cost of running landfills, incinerators, and other trash disposal methods. More detailed information can be found on the ADEQ website proper, but let’s exam these numbers more closely.
Junk mail makes up 35 billion tons of waste a year, recycling costs Arizona nearly 12 million dollars, and the savings is minimal. Also, examine the rules for recycling: “Junk mail – includes non self-sealing envelopes. Remove plastic credit cards or bags. Previous literature may say no plastic windowed envelopes, however improvements at paper recycling plants allow for these windows to be strained out of the paper pulp mix. It is still good recycling habit to tear the window out, however it is not necessary.” How many of you actually sit and tear the plastic windows out of an envelope and do they even make non self-sealing envelopes anymore? Continuing with the rules: “NO HARDBACK OR PAPERBACK BOOKS, SELF SEALING ENVELOPES, PHOTOGRAPHS, EMBOSSED CARDS OR WRAPPING PAPER, MYLAR BALLOONS, NEWSPAPER PLASTIC BAGS, RUBBER BANDS OR BLUEPRINTS.
All of these items cannot be recycled with regular paper. They cause de-inking and pulping processes to be disrupted and reduce the value of acceptable paper items.” Don’t forget, the recycling plants won’t accept shredded paper either. So, don’t shred the trash with your personal information on it, tear out the little plastic envelope, forget those postcard like mass mailings you get for ads on saving money on a new ceiling fan, and while you’re at it, why don’t you personally figure out how to recycle paper. However, there are ways to eliminate this problem from your life all together. Opt out of junk mail at the direct mail marketers’ website, and opt into Txtmailer.com!
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For a complete list of rules for recycling in Phoenix, check out: http://www.phoenix.gov/garbage/recycle.html#recycle
