Economic disadvantages of recycled materials

Recyclable materials currently compete with virgin materials in the marketplace. All of these materials compete in the global economy. While there are various market conditions that influence material choices, many recyclable materials are at an economic disadvantage compared to virgin materials because:

Subsidies in the form of below market loans, insurance, and leasing policies are available to the waste collection and disposal industry, but not to material recovery facilities.
The dollars needed for regulatory oversight and closure of landfills, long term monitoring, and clean-up, are not considered when comparing the costs of recycling versus disposal. These hidden costs distort the true cost of waste disposal, again placing recycled material at an economic disadvantage.
Product manufacturers are not generally held responsible for the end of life impacts of their products, therefore have little incentive to design products that use less material, are durable, are recyclable, or made from recycled materials.

Many people are willing to spend more for products they know use less natural resources to produce and create less waste. As demand for recycled material grows, industry will find ways to design products to meet this demand.

Because of virgin material subsidies, the U.S. still gets 3/5 of its aluminum from virgin ore, despite the fact that it requires twenty times more energy intensity than recycled aluminum. Enough aluminum is thrown away to replace the entire U.S. commerical aircraft fleet every three months.

Natural Capitalism, Hawken and Lovins

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