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This article doesn't address whether "recycling is worth it" or not, and instead basically states a truism: If you have X amount of stuff, and you divert Y amount of that stuff to other places, you will be left with Z amount of stuff which is less than what you started with.

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Penn & Teller did a decent job of digging into this a while back on Bullshit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVBFIciqGU

Basically some things are worth recycling (aluminum), some things break even (plastic/glass), and others are a terrible idea to recycle (paper).

I would love to see a similar look into the composting movement that's going on now. My suspicion is that it's a terrible idea due to the methane emissions. In landfills the methane can be captured and used for generating power (Yes this still creates CO2, but that's not nearly as powerful a greenhouse gas as methane.)

I wonder if anything has changed in the more than ten years since Penn and Teller covered the economics of recycling for an entertainment show on Showtime?

ADDENDUM: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7779102

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