Is the recycling business model fundamentally broken because most of our waste is not recycled?

Recycling actually works very well when the business equation is favorable, as it often is for paper, cardboard, aluminum, and some types of plastic. But, as we have seen, this does not apply to many other subjects. And what is accepted for recycling varies from place to place, depending on factors such as the size of the community and the distance to the final markets for the materials (both of which affect the profitability of the recycler).

This is why recycling is not an ideal solution to the waste problem. However, it is still an extremely important part of the movement towards a circular economy in which we eliminate waste through reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling.

Recycling has significant environmental benefits (it reduces the need to extract primary materials from the planet and prevents waste from ending up in landfills or landfills), and allows valuable material to be reused in new products instead of being left in landfills or incinerated.

The only real solution to the waste problem is to buy less and buy long-lasting reusable items instead of disposable ones.