landfill

Undermining Sound Resource Use Through Subsidies to Primary Materials and Waste Management

Despite surging prices for energy and other commodities, the vast majority of materials generated in the United States continues to be thrown away in landfills or burned in incinerators.  This Webinar, prepared for the Product Stewardship Institute in Boston, provides an overview of the importance of increased recycling and the role of subsidies to primary materials and disposal in slowing the expansion of materials recycling and reuse.  It contains a number of examples of subsidies of concern, but is not intended as a comprehensive listing. 

Leveling the Playing Field for Recycling: A Policy Report on Virgin Material Subsidies from the National Recycling Coalition

Prepared with the National Policy Workgroup of the National Recycling Coalition. September 1999.  Analysis identifies and quantifies a number of direct and indirect subsidies that put recycled materials at a disadvantage to virgin materials.