List of Disadvantages of Recycling

1. More pollution and energy consumption.
It’s contradicting, but the reality is that recycling tons of garbage will require waste to be transported, sorted, cleaned and processed in separate factories, all of which need energy and may result in by-products that can pollute air, water or soil. When more trucks are employed to pick up recyclable products, air pollution will also increase. In fact, the exhaust of the 179,000 waste collection vehicles in 2009 contains three dozen toxins that are all airborne.

2. Result in pollutants.
When waste materials break down, pollutants, such as chemical stews, will harm the environment. Toxins and impurities from the original material, such as lead paint or spray cans, could pass through recycling and then carried through the recycled product. Worse, it could take years before we realize that the items we have been using is contaminated. Recycled steel used in buildings in Taiwan, for example, has caused gamma radiation poisoning for the past 12 years.

3. Increased processing cost and low-quality jobs.
Recycling cost can go thrice as much as the cost of putting garbage in landfills. This is why it is often considered cost-inefficient, even if it is eco-friendly. The process is also labor intensive. And even when the manpower requirement is high, the kind of work involved can lead to low morale and poor quality of life, because the pay is also low.

4. Require stricter and more stringent implementation.
Recycling can have an adverse effect on health and the environment when not done properly. Debris and toxic waste that is improperly handled can contaminate land, air and the environment. This is why more stringent implementation must be followed. When recycling companies abandon dump sites, waste left lying around can have environmental effect.

5. Good products are not guaranteed.
Not all recycled items are of high quality or even safe to use. To recycle paper, for example, bleach is used, which is a harsh chemical that is harmful to health and the environment. As previously mentioned, recycled products may contain toxic chemicals that were previously present with the original material.

6. Generally ineffective.
As shown above, recycling results in more pollution, higher energy consumption, and cost-inefficiency, making it less effective than what everyone wants to believe. Moreover, recycling still failed to dent demands. The demands for aluminum, for example, increase about 10% every year, but the amount of recycled aluminum falls short. This means aluminum mining is still necessary.

The number of soda cans that need to be recycled is also many times more than facilities can process. In America alone, the average individual drinks 2.5 can per day, amounting to around 778 million cans that need to be recycled.