Recycling industry will require help to survive

Recycling is no longer just an environmental issue. Now it's an industry.

And Hawaii's recycling companies are having serious distribution problems.: while too much paper and cardboard products are being recycled, plastic and glass products are facing rising demand.

The recent Asian economic slump has caused prices to drop severely in the rec=cycled paper/cardboard market, and shipping costs are becoming increasingly significant to recycling companies. Plastic and glass recyclers, on the other hand, do not have the raw materials necessary to meet current demand.

If we plan to see any significant financial or environmental return from recycling, either economically or ecologically, we must put more effort into marketing this industry.

Recycling is one of the most promising industries currently in operation. The very nature of the recycling industry dictates that the public at large be prodded into action if supplies are to be kept ready. To let this industry crumple under financial burdens because we have not taken appropriate steps to preserve it is criminal.