Why landfill can beat recycling

Key takeaways from Works in Progress on the environmental trade-offs between recycling, reuse and landfill, shared by Sam BowmanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → on 1 September 2026:

• Reuse is not automatically greener: the energy and materials required to make durable alternatives can outweigh the impact of single-use products. The article cites estimates that a cotton bag must be reused 173 times to outperform a conventional plastic bag, a steel straw 150 times to outperform a plastic straw, and a ceramic mug 1,000 times to outperform a polystyrene cup on energy use.
• Recycling works best for some materials: metals are the clearest case. Recycling steel uses 65% less energy and saves iron ore, while recycling aluminium can save as much as 95% of the energy required to make primary metal. Around 30% of steel used globally is made from recycled scrap.
• Low-value plastics are more difficult: recycling systems face contamination, sorting and processing losses. For mid-quality plastics such as butter and margarine tubs, the article cites a saving of 0.43 tonnes of CO2 per tonne recycled compared with virgin material, while recycled material can cost hundreds of dollars more per tonne. The environmental and economic case therefore varies considerably by material and processing requirements.
• Modern landfill is a managed infrastructure system: properly designed sites use liners, compacted layers, drainage, methane collection and monitoring. The article states that landfill gas systems typically capture about 75% of methane produced, with some reaching 95%, and cites a review of 31 post-1988 New York landfills that found no adverse impact on groundwater quality.
• Policy should reflect local conditions: controlled incineration can reduce waste volume and methane leakage, but is generally more expensive than landfill in the US and requires costly pollution controls. In lower-income countries, improving basic collection and preventing dumping or uncontrolled burning may deliver greater environmental and public-health benefits than expanding complex recycling systems.

The article’s overall argument is not that recycling has no value, but that waste policy should prioritise the materials and locations where recycling delivers clear resource or environmental benefits. For many other waste streams, well-run landfill may be cheaper and have a lower environmental cost than reuse or recycling.

Read more: Works in Progress · Sam Bowman on X