In the last couple of decades the recycling industry have grown into a huge and well sustained industry because the larger the need for ways to recycle waste is the larger the recycling industry grows. However recently this industry has taken a turn for the worst and has been experiencing huge problems up to the point that recycling companies are starting to lobby for the cities to pay them for recycling their waste.

The main problem that recycling industry is experiencing is losing money. If previously recycling was a very profitable business for government as well as private companies then now this industry has taken a hit and many recycling firms are struggling to keep afloat and are working with great loses. The reason for such problem mainly is the carelessness while recycling. If people would separate all of their waste into categories before and then throw this waste in the proper bins the recycling industry could work much more efficiently. But now with a growing demand of recycling bins that accept all recyclable materials, once the waste goes to their specific recycling plant employees there first need to not only sort through that waste and separate it into different categories but because this waste usually is in bad condition many times they also first need to determine what is the item they are holding and what it is made out of – paper, plastic, glass and so on. And this process takes twice as long slowing down the recycling process and losing money for the recycling companies.

Of course any recycling is good recycling because even though people are throwing their trash into these bins that take all recyclable materials they are still sorting their waste on some level and helping the environment. But doing the recycling the wrong way is very inefficient for the recycling industry leading to profit loses. And if the price of recycled items or the process of recycling itself will climb that won’t help anyone. So we really need to recycle more consciously so that the recycling industry is able to continue working and continue helping our environment.

Another thing that influences the situation of recycling industry is also the state of global trade of different materials. Because recycling industry creates specific materials it is important to sell them too so that the industry get their profits. But if global trade of certain items like cardboard is down then the recycling companies cannot efficiently sell their product and get back their money leading also to profit loses. Unfortunately it is hard to influence global trade to be in favor of recycled items. One way to help this recycling industry though is to grant its wish and pay small fees for recycling of our waste. This way we help the industry by bringing in extra profit that will help it deal with money loses and will keep all of the recycling companies working and doing good. In this consumerism era if we want something we have to pay for it and why not pay for something that will actually benefit us and the planet we live on for once?