Environmental Issues

Bernard, Ann, City Council Passes Bill for Recycling of Plastic Bags. New York Times
January 10, 2008.

Summary and main argument of the article
This article brings out the emerging concerns of solid wastes in the major towns and the need for urgent measures to address the same problem.  In particular, the author of the article presents the need for better legislations as the heart of achieving this objective.  The author brings out the application of the polluter pays and precautionary principle in making solid waste producers to recycle their wastes.  With special reference to plastic bags, the author argues that they form the greatest risk of chocking the city.  To further emphasis on the applicability of the new law in Chicago, the author cites examples of other cities such as New York and San Francisco which have over the years received great praise for similar legislations.  Apart from the legislation emphasizing on the producers to recycle the wastes, it further seeks to facilitate use of alternative organic based plastic bags in Chicago.

Comments and feelings or about article
This article outlines the emerging reality for many cities and towns that they will not be successful if they fail to effectively address problem of solid wastes management.  The article therefore creates the need for a centralized consideration in driving the same objective.  Using legislations therefore acts as good option in two major folds.  First, such legislations have been employed elsewhere with great success.  Secondly, they are point specific on the causes of the problem with special outline for the solution.  However, this article has left out the public as a major stakeholder in addressing the same problem. It is critical to define the role to be played by the public because they form the final beneficiaries of the recycling process in the town.

Doron Lavee, Uri Regev and Amos Zemel, The effect of recycling price uncertainty on
municipal waste management choices. Journal of Environmental Management, 90(2009)113599-3606.

Summary and main argument of the article
This article seeks to bring out a balance between the critical price uncertainty for recycling by municipal authorities and recycling.  The authors effectively bring out the price as a major cause for slowdown in shifting from old waste management methods like land filling to new recycling methods.  While citing the stalemate that waste management authorities face between implementing the theoretically derived models, applicability of the same is a mirage.  The authors go a step further and establish a model, using 79 municipal authorities in Israel, in generating the needed balance to encourage recycling of municipal wastes which improves the inherent resources utility.  Through a mathematical model, the article integrates the overall cost considerations and the risk premium in recycling adjusted to reflect on supportive regulations on the expected benefits.  To effectively shift to recycling, the authors call for greater cooperation between the government and other stakeholders in creating the sense for moving to the latter.  Particularly, they call for greater support of recycled products, treatment of a greater range of wastes and reduction of the overall externalities by the recycling parties.  The conclusion of this article supports the hypothesis that uncertainty presented by prices is a major obstacle to effective assimilation of recycling.

Comments and feelings or about article
  This article is perhaps one of the best basements that can be used to address the problem of waste management.  Its holistic outset can be reflected from the following major considerations.  First, the authors appreciate the existing problem and further dissect it to address the main source.  Secondly, they derive a highly applicable model as the solution to the problem.  As a third consideration, this model appreciates the critical role that all stakeholders such as the local administration, private entities and the central government must play in overcoming the long existing uncertainties in embracing recycling.  However, it is the emphasis of governments centrality in steering the whole shift not just with the main objective, but with strategic step by step orientation, that cements the trust on the proposed model.

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Going Green in the Hospital Recycling Medical
Equipment Saves Money, Reduces Waste and Is Safe. ScienceDaily 26 February 2010.

The rising costs for medical equipments in hospitals as the author points out, requires careful redress to improve efficiency in their operations.  The article raises the concerns that though equipments have the ability to be used severally they are only used once a major factor that greatly raises the overall cost.  Though the article points out the concerns of possible infections and ethics of reusing such equipments being a major obstacle, they can be carefully addressed through the following considerations.  First, ordering equipments with the correct materials that can be recycled makes it easy to reuse them.  Then, sterilizing and recalibrating them addresses the prior raised concerns for infections to the latter users.  Through recycling, the article indicates that healthcare institutions such as Banner Health in Phoenix saved about US  1.5 million in the year 2002.  The United States Government Accountability Office further emphasizes on the need for recycling by pointing out it does not present any new risk.

Comments and feelings or about article
Over the years, any factor that raises the cost of medical operations has called for special focus.  The article therefore presents a perfect model through recycling that can be used to cut the accruing costs.  The authors of the article conclusively address the issue by not only focusing on the benefits, but digging through the major underlying concerns over the years.  To make the argument more convincing, results from scientific studies are incorporated in drawing a sound conclusion that recycling is indeed viable.  By further citing the need for better public relations in convincing people that they are being treated by equipments that had been used before, the authors bring out the reality of the remaining work in making recycling sustainable.  This article can therefore be rated well above average for its succinctness and future projection.
  
Marla, Dickerson, Tokyos Goal Be the greenest. Los Angeles Times April 23, 2010.

Summary and main argument of the article
This article brings a fascinating revelation of how the concept of recycling cannot be effective when applied alone, but only when articulated on a wide perspective.  The author reports on objectives by recycling companies and the government in making Tokyo the greenest city.  Notably, by recycling solid wastes coming from the city, the author argues that the energy is used to generate electricity while resulting ash is converted to building materials.  The efficacy of greening the city further came out in the article as a resultant of the tough environmental laws.  By instituting recycling legislations, the author point out that public fast embraced the system and created a reverse demand for recycled energy, water and greenery. The private sector is further presented as a critical force in facilitating applicability of recycling in the city.

Comments and feelings or about article
This article is one of the success stories which carefully navigate the readers minds on the possibility to achieve the main objectives of recycling.  Particularly, it effectively brings out the interconnectedness of the different stakeholders in accomplishing the mission of recycling.  However why have majority of the cities like Tokyo failed to meet their recycling objectives The author seeks to answer this question by indicating that recycling must be encompassed on a larger framework with greening objective at all levels.  Further efforts emerging from the public in demand for recycled products point at the need for greater understanding of perfectly completing the process by providing high quality products from recycled materials.  Finally, for recycling to be effective, the existing laws must be emphatic and particularistic to not only guide but create the needed sense of success at every step.