From Guest Blogger Thomas Verdone: What Does It Truly Cost to Recycle?

Starting a recycling program is an admirable ambition for a town of any size, but it is important, especially for small towns to decide whether or not it will be economically sustainable to begin a recycling program.

There are many options available to alter the financial and physical responsibilities on a town that is looking to create a custom recycling program in order to maintain its own program.

Costs of a Recycling Program

The costs involved in creating a recycling program fall into two categories.

Usually around two thirds of the cost associated with any program is allocated to the collection of garbage from the community.

There are multiple options available to augment the cost which falls to the town ranging from city owned trucks picking up the garbage from homes to citizens dropping off recycling at a central location for processing.

The other third of the cost associated with a recycling program is associated with the processing of the material which is to be recycled.

This can be very costly if a town chooses to create a processing facility solely for their use. The cost of this aspect can be reduced by using a centralized processing facility which is shared with nearby towns or the local population which would also be using the facility.

It is important for towns to plan for the future when considering the construction of a processing facility.

If for some reason the local population should decline before the facility is completely paid for there can be lingering costs which cause large scale financial problems.

Spread of Recycling

As the technology associated with recycling programs becomes more affordable and available to smaller populations, more and more towns are turning to recycling as a solution for their waste disposal. This trend is anticipated to continue as technology advances.

Soon it may be possible to create cost effective recycling programs in even smaller communities in order to spread the responsibility out from the central municipal power.

Long Term Benefits of Recycling

Towns that institute recycling programs will not only reap the environmental rewards of their efforts; it is possible that a town will be able to bring in a small amount of money above the operating costs of the program that they have created once the initial costs of creation have been paid off.

With the current technology it is not feasible for the most part to make a large profit margin off of the value of a recycling program, however as technology advances and becomes less costly, new opportunities could very arise down the road.

About the Author: Thomas Verdone is an author who covers a wide range of topics, including finance, fitness, personal development, and invoice software.