Recycling economics 101

State Sen. Scott (I bet no one calls HIM Scooter; maybe Gatsby?) Fitzgerald has an interesting theory.

Recycling programs aren't paying their own way, he says, so he supports a drop in the fee charged dumping in landfills here. Those fees pay for the grants to local recycling programs -- the ones that aren't breaking even, and could use more money. Make sense to you?

It's like the brothers who were buying a truckload of black dirt for $100 and selling it for $50. But they made it up in volume.

"I'm not sure how much longer we can justify being in the recycling business. When the law was passed, the thought was that markets would drive recycling programs, but now it's hard to even break even on most recyclables. The expectations were so much higher than where we are now," Fitzgerald said.

Well, there's just one thing wrong with that. We don't recycle because we think we'll make money. We recycle because it is saves resources, keeps material out of landfills, and protects the environment. Somehow, that rationale got lost in the shuffle.