Should Recycling be Mandatory

Some of the gravest issues in the world today are environmental issues like damage to the environment, pollution, global warming, conservation of the Earth's resources, etc. Recycling has been widely touted as one of the best methods for conservation of environment. The benefits of recycling have been promoted in nearly all parts of the world. But, there are many who wish recycling to be made mandatory for the protection of the environment. Here are the pros and cons of it which will help you form an opinion of your own.

Pros of Recycling

Recycling helps in reducing the environmental waste by reusing certain products. For e.g., plastic and paper can be recycled and used easily. This will help in decreasing the amount of waste considerably caused due to these products. One of the major benefits of recycling is that the non biodegradable waste can be utilized or gotten rid of due to this process.

Secondly, recycling helps in saving natural resources which is again beneficial for the environment and human beings. For e.g. according to paper recycling facts, if one makes use of recycled paper, one is indirectly saving trees from being cut for making paper. Also, the production cost for new paper reduces considerably which will leads to economic benefit.

One of the arguments for recycling is that this process helps in cost-reduction and conservation of energy. For e.g, it has been found that the energy required for mining and processing aluminum for making a new can is much higher than the energy required to make 1 can out of recycled material. Secondly, recycling can also give rise to new jobs in addition to protection of the environment.

Cons of Recycling

Although there are numerous recycling benefits, it is not feasible to make it mandatory. According to statistics and facts, the amount required for recycling specific objects is much higher than the cost of conventional disposal of the items. Making recycling mandatory will further increase the cost which is not currently favorable in any part of the world.

Secondly, there is not much awareness about what is recyclable and what is not. Those who will be employed to carry out the process of separating these items and recycling will have to gain thorough knowledge on it. At the same time, this identification and separation process is also a lot time-consuming and not utterly practical.

Agreed that we all are aware of the importance of recycling, but if it were to be made mandatory, what would be the procedure that was to be followed in order to keep a check on whether the rule was followed or not. Would there be a check on the trash to see whether recyclable articles were reused or not? Or would the people be fined for not following the same? The actual implementation seems definitely difficult.

These are some of the major advantages and disadvantages of recycling. Whether recycling is made mandatory or not is secondary, you, as a responsible citizen should look to it that you contribute your share for the protection of environment. Ciao!