[Fidgit]

Financial incentives. (like everthing else in the world) At home you recycle so you don't have to pay for a larger trash bin. At work you recycle so your company can get a "rebate" for some of its "trash" and they don't have to pay for a larger trash bin. Just checked this, 1999 figures. Over 58% of the fiber my company produces is from recycled sources. And yes, tree's still have to fall to suppliment strong fiber content.

[blackdog]

How much of those recycled fibers come from curbside garbage? Those fibers come from industry. I'm sure you have that breakdown?

[gridlock]

Financial incentives. (like everthing else in the world) At home you recycle so you don't have to pay for a larger trash bin. At work you recycle so your company can get a "rebate" for some of its "trash" and they don't have to pay for a larger trash bin.

Poppycock.

At home you recycle so you don't get a fine.
At work you recycle so your company doesn't get a fine.

Given that you get a fine whenever you fail to recycle, there is a financial incentive to recycle. But it is not a positive incentive.

Some recycling supports itself. Nobody throws away automobiles because they have scrap value. If your company produces a lot of waste that is fairly easy to segregate and collect, then some recycling of certain materials can be a paying proposition.

But I defy you to show me a single instance where the mandated levels of recycling, sorting out all recyclable plastic, tin, aluminum, misc. metals, glass, high-grade paper, and newsprint, makes economic sense absent the threat of fines.

I'm sure some people do it, and they have their reasons. But economics is not one of them.