Recycling has become a ritual in many households. Recyclers routinely save aluminum cans, plastic bottles, newspapers, and other items for curbside collection or delivery to a neighborhood recycling center. More popular than ever, recycling saves between 19 to 24 percent of America’s trash from being landfilled or incinerated. In fact, the rate of office paper recycling has reached 36 percent, and nearly half of all newspapers are now recycled.

Despite the increase in recycling, there is much debate about its cost- effectiveness. Many cities’ recycling programs do not pay for themselves and require subsidies to keep operating. San Jose, California, for example, loses $5 million a year on its curbside-recycling program. According to Waste Age magazine, in 1994 the states spent more than $250 million to subsidize recycling. Environmental consultant Barbara J. Stevens writes, “In virtually every community, adding a curbside-recycling program increases...