Comment by throwaway2037

I have a hot take that rarely gets mentioned when people talk about recycling: It creates jobs. For rich countries, I think we can do a fair trade of a bit less landfilling in favour of more recycling to create some long-term, reliable jobs. I'm not saying that recycling will be cheaper, rather it is an expense that we can afford.

For those unaware, amoung rich countries, the US has incredibly low rates of garbage incineration: ~12%. (Shockingly, Canada is even lower: ~5%!) When I was growing up in the US, we were always (incorrectly) taught that garbage incineration is terrible for the environment and creates a lot of air pollution. When I got older and was fortunate enough to visit other countries, I learned that many rich countries do with their garbage: (1) recycle what they can, (2) bury a tiny fraction that cannot be burned, and (3) burn the rest. Modern flue gas treatment techniques can remove the vast majority of air pollution (except CO2) from garbage incineraters exhaust stacks. Again: The tech isn't cheap, but it is necessary if you want to have clean air.