Recycling should be required in the U.

Laura Aquino
1096105
Effective Speech course (AHH203)

Organizational Pattern: Preposition of policy

General Purpose: to convince people that recycling should be mandated by law.
Specific Purpose: Show people the benefits that recycling represents for the environment and the
economy.

Introduction

Attention-getter: How much of the waste you produce at home you recycle? I’m going to guess the
answer is little to nothing… Did you know that in 2018, about 146.1 million tons of MSW were
landfilled? And did you know that only 32% of that solid waste was recycled?

Credibility Statement: According to Jared Blumenfeld (As cited in The New York Times, 2009),
director of the San Francisco’s Department of the Environment amongst the solutions for climate-
change reduction, the increase of recycling rate and composting is a rather simple but effective way of
targeting the problem of reducing landfill waste.

Reasons to listen: Trash is taking over our planet, thus causing it to die. If the people by themselves
are not cooperating with the reduction of waste, then the state is obligated to act and impose laws that
encourage people to recycle and therefore give the planet a breath.

Thesis Statement: Recycling reduces landfill waste, creates jobs and helps the economy grow.

Preview of the main points: I am going to show you what is causing the problem, some statistics that
demonstrate how big the solid waste issue is becoming and also the benefits that recycling represents
for the environment and the economy.

BODY
NEED STEP:
1. Statement: According to a report by The World Bank in 2016 the world generates 2.01 billion
tons of municipal solid waste annually, with at least 33 percent of that managed in an
environmentally safe manner. Worldwide, waste generated per person per day averages 0.74
kilogram.
2. Illustration: When looking forward, global waste is expected to grow to 3.40 billion tons by
2050, more than double population growth over the same period. representing an almost 70%
increase in rubbish in just 30 years.
3. Ramification: Landfill sites are partially responsible for global warming as they generate and
release biogas into the atmosphere. According to the ISWA report, if the current situation
 continues and we do not take action, landfill sites will account for 10% of greenhouse gas
emissions by 2025.
4. Pointing: Right now, most of that trash doesn’t get recycled or composted. Instead, it ends up in
landfills and incinerators, polluting the communities that house these facilities and increasing
our climate crisis. We live in a throw-away society and we're paying the price; we don't know
what to do with all our waste.

Transitional Sentence: amongst the solutions for climate-change reduction and landfill waste
management, the increase of recycling rate and composting is a rather simple but effective way of
targeting the problem.

SATISFACTION STEP:

1. Solution Statement: Recycling is something everybody can do, it represents a rather simple
solution to a problem if not solved as soon possible, could mean the irreparable damage to our
environment as we know it.
2. Explanation: Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would
otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products. Over the past few
decades recycling rates have grown, but not enough to reduce the waste problem. Don’t you
think that if people are not being responsible enough with this matter, the government should
give them a little encouragement? With it not only are we helping the environment but also the
economy. You might be wondering how?
3. Theoretical Demonstration: Some states and communities adopt mandatory recycling and
composting laws and ordinances. Requiring all commercial and/or residential generators to
recycle and/or compost means that local government or contractors must provide recycling and
composting services to all customers.
4. Reference to practical experience: In San Francisco, for example, there is a mandatory
recycling and composting ordinance since 2009, that requires all of city to separate recyclable
materials, compostable materials, and landfilled trash.
The city implemented the first and largest urban food scraps composting collection program in
the U.S., covering both commercial and residential sectors. San Francisco has collected more
than two million tons of food scraps, yard trimmings, and other compostable materials and
turned it into compost that is used by local farmers and wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties.
San Francisco diverted nearly 80% diversion in 2012 - the highest rate of any major U.S. city -
and continues to implement innovative initiatives.
5. Meeting Objections: I know that it sounds very idyllic to implement mandatory recycling all
across the U.S, since there is going to be people who will refuse. But with law comes
punishment for those who don’t follow it. Fines will be applied to those cities that don’t meet
the recycling rates percentage mandated by law. For example, in the San Francisco’s ordinance,
if the city doesn’t meet a 50% diversion goal it could face fines of up to 10,000 dollars.

Transitional Sentence: Now that we know what the problem is and a doable and easy solution to it,
let’s go over what might happen if the problem is fixed or not.
VISUALIZATION STEP

1. Positive: Remember I said earlier that recycling also helps economy grow? EPA released
significant findings on the economic benefits of the recycling industry with an update to the
national Recycling Economic Information (REI) Study in 2016. This study analyzes the
numbers of jobs, wages and tax revenues attributed to recycling. The study found that in a
single year, recycling and reuse activities in the United States accounted for: 681,000 jobs,
$37.8 billion in wages; and $5.5 billion in tax revenues.
Which equates to 1.17 jobs per 1,000 tons of materials recycled and $65.23 in wages and $9.42
in tax revenue for every ton of materials recycled.
2. Negative: Now, if we don’t start recycling or if the government doesn’t star taking action on the
matter it is expected that by the year 2050, 27 billion tons of solid waste per year will be
produced, meaning an increase in the solid wasted production of a 70%.
Transitional Sentence: You wouldn’t think that such a common practice like throwing stuff away
could cause so many problems for the planet. If you want to be part of the solution and not the problem,
here are some actions you can take to help the cause.

ACTION STEP:
1. Specific action to be taken: At home such simple actions like recovering all paper, cardboard,
plastic bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans and foil and steel tins.
2. Specific action to be taken: Donating your old clothes and shoes instead of throwing them out,
separating your waste into different containers according to their composition.

Transitional Sentence: These are ways in which you can put your little grain of salt into making
recycling a common practice to help the growing solid waste production problem.

CONCLUSION

Summary of main points: We’ve now seen how serious the problem regarding solid waste production
and the impact it has on the environment is, we’ve seen some examples of cities in the US that have
implemented recycling laws and how they turned out, we learned that…
Restatement of thesis: Recycling represents a viable and effective solution to a problem that has made
a huge impact on our planet since the dawn of time, which is garbage. When talking about the benefits
of recycling, not only should we mention the positive impact it has on the environment, by reducing the
landfill waste load and giving objects a second life, but also the fact that it helps the growth of the
economic system by creating jobs and tax revenues.
Memorable close: Remember that trash is produced by all of us, producing enormous amounts of
damage to our home, Planet Earth, it’s only possible to make it better if we take action, now that we
know a little bit more about the problem and how to solve it, is it really necessary for the state to take
action?
I think we could do it ourselves
Wollan, M. (2009, 11 junio). San Francisco to Toughen a Strict Recycling Law. The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/us/11recycle.html

The World Bank. (s. f.). Trends in Solid Waste Management. Recuperado 17 de julio de 2021, de

https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_waste_management.html

Environmental Protection Agency. (2020, 12 noviembre). Recycling Basics. US EPA.

https://www.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics

VISY. (2015). Household recycling tips, how to recycle, reduce landfill. Visy - For a Better World.

https://www.visy.com.au/recycling/household