Brattleboro Reformer

As Vermont begins its big, statutorily mandated push toward universal recycling this year, state officials likely will be making a mainly environmental sales pitch.

But when state Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deborah Markowitz addressed questions and concerns about the recycling law (officially labeled Act 148) at a recent meeting in Brattleboro, she also made a financial argument.

Recycling, Markowitz said, just makes economic sense.

"It's a rethinking of waste management to really think about, how do we extract as much value as possible from a material to conserve natural resources?" Markowitz told Windham Solid Waste Mangement District board members. "It's as much economic as it is environmental. At the end of the day, if there's value in the things that we're putting in the landfill, then we're really losing an opportunity."

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