In this book, the author argues that mankind has no other choice but to reuse and recycle everything we get from the Nature. Nothing can be thrown away because a) there is no "away" and b) we can't afford to waste anything, since all resources are limited.
The author goes on to describe why all previous attempts to establish recycling as a subsidiary of garbage collection have failed (nothing less than 99% diversion rate can be honestly considered a success). The only way to get close to 100% garbage diversion rate is to design for reuse. As Dr. Paul Connett put it: If industry has no way to reuse/recycle something, the product/material may not be manufactured in the first place. Consider paying for product recycling at the time of a purchase.
Dr. Palmer explains that we must strive to reuse the function, not the material of a product -- collecting glass bottles and crushing them makes little sense, bottles' function to contain liquids must be preserved and reused instead!
Also, the role of US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the current state of the US recycling-related legislation are explained. Numerous examples are given of usable and valuable chemicals being burned or dug underground only because legislation discourages their genuine reuse/recycling.
This is a very good book to get a sense of what the current state of recycling is and where we must strive to get it.
I highly recommend reading this book and I hope you'll agree with me after you read it.
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