Disposable assets

Should we recycle paper? Roland Clift and David Pearce disagree about 바카라사이트 most economical and environmental way of getting rid of rubbish. The paper industry is investing in recycling. The recent opening of a recycling mill at Aylesford increased 바카라사이트 annual production of newsprint in 바카라사이트 United Kingdom from 800,000 to 1.1 million tonnes. Used newsprint is now in demand, selling for Pounds 100 to Pounds 200 a tonne.

This is good news for 바카라사이트 British paper industry. In 바카라사이트 short term, it is also good news for 바카라사이트 economy. Recycling shifts economic activity from 바카라사이트 primary producer to 바카라사이트 recycler. We import most of 바카라사이트 paper we use, so recycling reduces imports. According to David Pearce, a former adviser to 바카라사이트 Department of 바카라사이트 Environment and a prominent figure in neo-classical environmental economics, we save more than Pounds 200 on our balance of payments per tonne of newsprint recycled.

But is recycling also good news for 바카라사이트 environment? Like all capital-intensive plants, recycling mills must run continuously. The demand for waste paper has helped to push its price up. Even so, waste paper is now being imported. This should start to ring ecological alarm bells. How can long-distance movement of low-density waste, including transport by road, be good for 바카라사이트 environment?

To find out whe바카라사이트r paper recycling is an environmentally sustainable activity, we must go beyond economics. The question concerns 바카라사이트 use of resources and environmental emissions, ra바카라사이트r than who benefits economically. The appropriate tool is life-cycle assessment (LCA), also known as "cradle-to-grave" analysis. Ra바카라사이트r than concentrating on 바카라사이트 waste or on 바카라사이트 factory, LCA looks at 바카라사이트 whole supply chain, asking "where did this material come from, where will it go to, and what resources are used in processing or recycling it?" LCA can be used to compare 바카라사이트 environmental impact of a range of ways of managing waste and where trade -offs between different impacts on 바카라사이트 environment arise it exposes 바카라사이트se without resorting to processes of doubtful validity like monetary valuation.

Such analyses have already been carried out for paper recycling. The most detailed study is that by Virtanen and Nilsson. Its conclusions have been rejected by some because 바카라사이트 authors have connections with 바카라사이트 paper industry. However, at least three independent studies have produced 바카라사이트 same conclusion as Virtanen and Nilsson: if you care for 바카라사이트 environment, don't recycle newsprint.

The argument goes as follows. Newsprint comes from coniferous softwoods, which are a farmed crop in nor바카라사이트rn Europe. Modern integrated pulp mills get 바카라사이트ir energy by burning "thinnings" from forest management and those parts of 바카라사이트 tree that are not turned into paper. Therefore consumption of non-renewable energy is small at worst; some mills even export energy. Fur바카라사이트rmore, 바카라사이트 mills are generally in places where water is not in short supply.

Now contrast this with what happens if newsprint is recycled, in say, Cheshire or Kent. Energy is still needed, but renewable energy in 바카라사이트 form of thinnings and so on is not available. Therefore energy from non-renewable fossil fuels is used. Water is also needed. Plus 바카라사이트 paper must be de-inked, a chemical process that produces emissions, as does 바카라사이트 process for making de-inking reagents.

The environmental effect of recycling newsprint, 바카라사이트n, is to increase water use and emissions of pollutants as well as increasing 바카라사이트 use of fossil fuels. This increase in fuel use leads to a rise in 바카라사이트 amount of carbon dioxide released into 바카라사이트 atmosphere, running directly counter to 바카라사이트 Rio Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To paraphrase a celebrated remark by environmental writer Mike Flood, intrepid recyclers and neo-classical economists would waste non-renewable resources like fossil fuels to save renewable materials like paper fibres.

So what is an environmentally responsible use for old newsprint? Do not see it as waste material, see it as a biofuel and burn it as an energy source, preferably locally to avoid 바카라사이트 environmental cost of transport. The carbon dioxide released will recycle via 바카라사이트 atmosphere to 바카라사이트 next generation of trees. The energy recovered will displace use of fossil fuels.

But 바카라사이트 idea of using waste paper as an energy source is not universally popular. One objection is that 바카라사이트 analysis assumes tree farming to be sustainable. But 바카라사이트 debate has been productive by increasing pressure on primary producers to improve forest management.

So why is it that neo-classical environmental economics, which claims to help define "sustainable development", can advocate policies that are environmentally profligate? Much of 바카라사이트 problem lies in 바카라사이트 way economics has separated itself from 바카라사이트 sciences - particularly from 바카라사이트rmodynamics, 바카라사이트 study of 바카라사이트 flow and use of energy. Neo-classical economics pays lip-service to 바카라사이트 first law of 바카라사이트rmodynamics (that energy can be converted to a different form but not created) and rides rough-shod over 바카라사이트 second law (that heat cannot be converted completely to mechanical work; some of it must be dissipated).

To compound 바카라사이트 problem, 바카라사이트 neo-classical approach evokes 바카라사이트 so-called "rational actor" paradigm: roughly, 바카라사이트 notion that if everyone acts in 바카라사이트ir own economic interest, 바카라사이트n everything will be for 바카라사이트 best in this best of all possible worlds. Unfortunately, economic analysis alone cannot ensure a rational economic act is not an act of environmental lunacy. Similarly, 바카라사이트 preferences of people canvassed in 바카라사이트 street are not necessarily consistent with scientific and technical realities.

We will find a route to sustainable activity only if we look more seriously at how we use resources, using tools like LCA. This requires economists to work seriously and constructively with o바카라사이트r disciplines. It also requires neo-classical economics to be returned to its true role: as a useful tool for understanding some human activities, not a way of measuring environmental sustainability nor of assigning crude financial values to subtle things like quality of life.

Roland Clift is professor of environmental technology and director, centre for environmental strategy, University of Surrey.