Abstract |
The ultimate importance of developing recycling markets is to accomplish these five objectives: Assist local governments and state offices in achieving the recycling goals in the SCORE (Select Committee on Recycling and the Environment) legislation through the development of recycling markets, while focusing on longer-term market development for additional materials in the waste stream that currently are not recovered, or are recycled only to a limited extent; Foster resource conservation attitudes, practices, and policies in Minnesota and the region through a reordering of economic incentives that encourage recycling market development; Strengthen sustainable environmental protection efforts that lessen the reliance on landfills and incinerators by stimulating markets for products and packaging that utilize recovered materials at their highest possible value, and result in closed-loop recycling whenever feasible; Encourage community-based economic development through expansion of markets for the recycling industry; Promote the most effective combination of public and private sector resources for recycling, including incorporation of the existing recycling infrastructure. |