Las Cruces, at the southern end of New Mexico, has been steadily “recycling” for years. One decade ago we implemented “single stream” recycling so consumers could conveniently drop all accepted materials into one blue curbside bin, with every-other-week pickup transporting it right from your curb to the South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) transfer station. What could be easier, right?
There, the recycled materials are transferred into 18-wheel trucks and hauled 40 miles to Friedman Recycling in El Paso – the only recycling processor within 250 miles of Las Cruces. There the recyclables are sorted, separated, and baled for shipment to other facilities – some in the U.S., some in China. There, the raw recycled materials arrive and are made into new products and shipped to store shelves, potentially around the globe.
That’s a lot of hauling and shipping of materials.
The South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) now asks the question: What would it look like if Las Cruces – a geographically isolated community - could process our own recycling and Las Cruces businesses could make use of the material for new goods? It would mean that Las Cruces could create its own “circular economy.”
“Las Cruces is an island,” explained Patrick Peck, SCSWA director. “What eats up the value of our recycled material is the cost of transportation to vendors who can buy and sell our recycling. It’s not possible here like it is in densely urban areas. We would need to create a ‘circular economy’ with innovative businesses in or near Las Cruces.”
What exactly is a circular economy? First, let’s look at our current system. The “linear economy” is recognizable: you go out, buy an item in its packaging, and simply dispose of or recycle when you’re done with it.
A circular economy is a system where the focus is on resources staying in an area to be recycled and reused again, working to reduce the resources that are used to begin with by minimizing the production. It’s a series of closed loops in which raw materials, components and products lose as little value as possible. Remember the 3Rs:
- Reduce: Minimum use of raw materials
- Reuse: Maximum reuse of products and components
- Recycle: High quality reuse of raw recycled materials
“Living in that system might look just a little bit different than what we do now,” said Peck. “Imagine you have large plastic bottles for shampoo, detergent, and liquid hand soap. You would turn in the empties, they would be cleaned up, refilled and resold – reusing the bottles locally over and over.”
“And, if we grew the ability in Las Cruces, when those large plastic bottles break and aren’t usable, perhaps in time we can have a facility that will remake that hard plastic into a new plastic bottle for reuse,” he said. “But we’re not there yet. We need the buy-in from our leadership - city councilors and state legislators - to make that a priority of growth, both in recycling and for future economic development.”
Peck continued, “It’ll take business leadership, too - to take a chance either investing in a facility that can sort recycling, or building a facility that can use what we can get to them: clean corrugated cardboard, aluminum, or plastic. They can step up to close that loop.”
Green Connections is submitted by the South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) managing solid waste, recyclables, and working to stop illegal dumping for residents and businesses throughout Doña Ana County. Contact the SCSWA at (575) 528-3800 or visit www.SCSWA.net.