Opinion | Recycling Strengthens the American Economy

Industry claims 600,000 U.S. jobs, but critics say that's counting the guy who sorts your yogurt cups as a 'manufacturing savior'.
Lomborg's 'Most Recycling Is a Waste' op-ed triggers a desperate PR counterattack from an industry that smells budget cuts.
The real battle: virtue-signaling blue bins vs. cold, hard thermodynamics—guess which one wins at the landfill.
Recycling lobby says it 'powers supply chains,' but most of that power is just hauling trucks' diesel to the curb.

Brief Summary

The recycling industrial complex is having a meltdown after Bjorn Lomborg had the audacity to call their golden calf a pig. Their rebuttal is a masterpiece of spin: 600,000 jobs, manufacturing fuel, and supply-chain salvation—all while pretending China isn't still choking on our plastic bales. They point to 'sustained investments' and 'increased demand' as if the market hasn't already priced in the fact that half of what you toss is contaminated trash. This is less a defense of economics and more a plea to keep the feel-good ritual alive, even if the math stinks worse than a July dumpster.

Why This Matters

For the average reader, this isn't about saving the planet; it's about whether your curbside bin is a civic duty or a self-congratulatory fantasy. If Lomborg is right, you've been wasting time sorting plastics that end up incinerated or shipped overseas, all to soothe your conscience while the real waste—single-use packaging—keeps piling up. The industry's 'jobs' argument is the only card they have left, and it's a weak one: propping up an inefficient system to keep people employed is the same logic that used to justify coal mining. The takeaway? Keep recycling if it makes you feel good, but know that the economy's real strength comes from making less garbage in the first place, not from ceremoniously sorting it.