10.2190/1G00-CM2T-XTXJ-FEUJ 1G00CM2TXTXJFEUJ 1 The Feasibility of Recycling Plastic Wastes: An Update 193 212 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 1G00CM2TXTXJFEUJ.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=1G00CM2TXTXJFEUJ 3 T. Randall Curlee Energy and Economic Analysis Section, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee This article updates the findings of the author's 1986 book on plastic recycling entitled <i>The Economic Feasibility of Recycling: A Case Study of Plastics Waste.</i> Recent developments and trends are reviewed in five main areas: new technologies; recent environmental findings; the development of new institutional structures to facilitate markets for recycled materials and the flow of relevant information; legislative and regulatory trends; and the costs of waste disposal. It is argued that recent technological developments have promoted recycling, but have failed to overcome the problems of separating plastics from other similar wastes and have contributed little to recycling contaminated plastics. It is also argued that recent environmental findings have done little to ease the controversy about the effects of plastics when landfilled or incinerated. The article suggests that recent developments in institution building and the rapid enactment of regulations and legislation that directly or indirectly affect recycling have been most important in encouraging additional recycling. Unfortunately, some government actions are inconsistent, reflecting the significant uncertainties faced by decision makers. The movement toward more recycling has also been encouraged by recent increases in the cost of disposal. T. R. Curlee, <i>The Economic Feasibility of Recycling: A Case Study of Plastic Wastes</i>, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1986. G. Tesoro, Studies on Tertiary Recycling, in <i>Plastics Recycling as a Future Business Opportunity</i>, proceedings of the RecyclingPlas III Conference, sponsored by the Plastics Institute of America, May 25-26, 1988, Washington, D. C., Technomic Publishing, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1988. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, <i>Results of the Combustion and Emissions Research Project at the Vicon Incinerator Facility in Pittsfield, Massachusetts</i>, Report 87-16, prepared by Midwest Research Institute, June 1987. J. R. Visalli, A Comparison of Dioxin, Furan, and Combustion Gas Data from Test Programs at Three MSW Incinerators, <i>JAPCA, 37</i>:12, pp. 1451-1464, December 1987. F. Hasselriis, What's in Our Garbage?, <i>Waste Alternatives, 1</i>:2, pp. 74-77, September 1988. G. Graff, The Looming Crisis in Plastics Waste Disposal, <i>Issues in Science and Technology</i>, Winter, 1988. R. Magee, Plastics in Municipal Solid Waste Incineration, presented at the RecyclingPlas III Conference, Washington, D. C., May 25-26, sponsored by the Plastics Institute of America, 1988. U. S. General Accounting Office, <i>Degradable Plastics: Standards, Research, and Development</i>, GAO/RCED-88-208, September 1988. T. Roth, Effort to Pass Bottle Bills Gets New Push, <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, p. 6, April 9, 1985. R. Keller, Building Markets for Recyclables: Government Procurement Facts, <i>Waste Age, 19</i>:7, pp. 38-42, July 1988. G. Brewer, <i>Plastics Recycling Action Plan for Massachusetts</i>, Department of Environmental Quality Engineering, State of Massachusetts, July 1988.