Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnR
Improve the recycling
|
You willing to fund that with your tax dollars? It isn't in the interest of the recycling companies to do that. They recycle for profit. They have no incentive to upgrade all the machinery even if the technology existed The market in China for recycled material has dried up as it is. I understand people view this as solely a personal freedom issue, but when the stuff someone uses becomes an external problem, personal freedom has limits. The impact of plastic on wildlife, and fisheries in particular, is dramatic and the cost to purchase a straw or plastic bag doesn't come close to the economic impact associated with them as waste.
How about this? Tax the straws at a rate that will allow the recycling companies to upgrade the machinery to collect the straws for recycling. Probably end up being a few cents per straw given the 500 million a day that are used in USA. All the tax goes to fund upgrades. Temporary tax of a year or two, whatever is needed. Pretty sure a bunch of people that are upset about local ordinances banning straws would be equally upset about a tax to deal with the problem.
Threaded Mode