Beverage makers and oil companies could be doing more to improve recycling of their packaging and products in the United States, according to Michele Raymond, publisher of “State Recycling Laws Update.”
Raymond says that while states show a great deal of interest in electronics and toxics in the waste stream, attention to packaging, commercial, industrial waste and used oil disposal is lacking.
Raymond is critical of the European model that requires industries to take responsibility for reducing packaging consumption.
According to a release from Raymond Communications, European packaging consumption increased 8 percent per capital between 1997 and 2001 despite $15 billion in spending on packaging waste recovery.
Raymond suggests that state and local governments use landfill bans to encourage recycling of various packaging and products. She also suggests that states band together and push the beverage industry to fund national education programs and large venue recycling.
“Major brand owners have excellent expertise in advertising,” she says. “They need to use it to change U.S. culture away from litter and toward recycling.”
Oil disposal is another area that needs work, according to Raymond. She sites a survey that shows California is the only state that requires fees from oil companies to help fund used oil management and that only two other states recycle used oil bottles.
Raymond Communications publishes the newsletters “State Recycling Laws Update” and “Recycling Laws International.”