What do you say when someone tells you not to recycle paper because it is cheaper to make new paper than to make recycled paper?

One of the arguments against recycling materials like paper and plastic is that it can cost more to recycle than to purchase the resources to make new product. However, one thing that drives our economy is the creativity of the human mind to come up with new ideas and solutions to problems. This creativity, when applied to recycling in the form of technology, can help to improve the process of recycling and make it more affordable and profitable. In some cases, technology can even help to define new markets for recyclable materials that were non-existent. In this part of The Recycle Challenge you will use the following guiding questions to explore how technology can impact recycling:

• How has technology improved our ability to recycle paper?
• Are there examples of technology opening up new markets for recyclable materials?
• Should we abandon recycling if it is not cost effective?

This part of The Recycle Challenge will let you explore how technology is used to improve paper recycling. It will also allow you to see how one company has looked at the waste created by their products and found innovative ways to not only recycle the materials in their products, but also to turn it into a money making process.