Environmentalism the new communism
I have been in the plastics industry (composites) for over 30 years. I see your point about working hard to make the industry more acceptable to the general public [``Green may be good for all in the long run,'' Feb. 19, Page 6]. But I believe that there is more that needs to be done.
As the Czech president has recently admonished us, this green movement is the new communism, with our nation's capitalism in its sights. It will stop at nothing until the way this nation does business grinds to a halt.
What is needed is more education by the businesses of this country extended to the public, which teaches the benefits to all that come from a capitalistic society. There can be no doubt that this is the economical system that blesses the most people, which raises the standard of living of everyone in the country, and extends benefit to the entire world. People need to know this!
An article that I recently read that does a very nice job of saying all of this can be found at www.hillsdale.edu/freemarketforum/docs/112006_Sirico.doc, which is an excerpt of a speech given by Robert Sirico at Hillsdale College this last fall.
Dan Cook
Quintus Inc.
Camp Verde, Ariz.
Government needs to mandate recycling
The Jan. 15 issue of Plastics News contained a column by Nina Ying Sun [``U.S. lags behind in recycling,'' Page 6] that was very informative regarding the relative recycling rates for plastics in several countries. We in the United States are sorely lagging behind the other large plastics-consuming countries of the world in terms of recycling.
In her column, Ms. Sun states that ``China's expanding demand for plastics fuels the recycling sector.'' I question whether [that premise] applies universally. A few years ago, I started a plastics manufacturing company to make post and rail fence from 100 percent recycled plastics. I have been unable to get enough recycled plastics to meet demand for the product. Recently I have had to substitute virgin plastic for recycled plastic in order to meet customer delivery dates.
The plastics recycling rate in the U.S. is about 20 percent. That tells me that 20 percent of the population voluntarily recycles plastics. It also tells me that an external force will be required to get the other 80 percent to recycle. That external force will most likely have to be a recycle tax (just as we have a fuel tax to help build and maintain our roads). So to all you state and federal legislators I say: Let's get busy. Only you can increase recycling rates in the United States.
Patrick Kelley
Waste Not Technologies LLC
Saylorsburg, Pa.
