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Could recycling to save money be the answer to saving the planet?

Could recycling to save money be the answer to saving the planet? For decades, wealthy countries have been shipping their waste to China for sorting and recycling. Now China is getting wealthier, it no longer wants to be a dumping ground. So could we take another look at the cold, hard cash that recycling generates? After all, the idea it鈥檚 a moral obligation is relatively new and, as Tim Harford says, for centuries people reused and recycled to save money, not the environment.

Available now

11 minutes

Last on

Mon 27 May 2019 03:50GMT

Image credit

Plastic bottles in a recycling bin (Credit: Getty Images)

Sources

The Effect of Recycling versus Trashing on Consumption: Theory and Experimental Evidence. Monic Sun, Remi Trudel. Boston University May 16, 2016

Broadcasts

  • Sat 25 May 2019 04:50GMT
  • Sat 25 May 2019 13:50GMT
  • Sun 26 May 2019 14:50GMT
  • Sun 26 May 2019 22:50GMT
  • Mon 27 May 2019 03:50GMT

Podcast