City in British Columbia, Canada

 

City in British Columbia, Canada

Richmond
City
City of Richmond
Downtown Richmond from the SkyTrain
Flag Logo
Motto(s):  Child of the Fraser Island City by Nature Better in Every Way
Location of Richmond in Metro Vancouver
Coordinates: 49°10′N 123°8′W / 49.167°N 123.133°W / 49.167; -123.133
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Regional district	Metro Vancouver
Incorporated	10 November 1879 (municipality status)
	3 December 1990 (city status)
Seat	Richmond City Hall
Government [1]
• Type	Mayor-council government
• Body	Richmond City Council
• Mayor	Malcolm Brodie (Ind.)
• City Council	List of councillors Chak Au Carol Day Alex Hobbs Alexa Loo Bill McNulty Linda McPhail Harold Steves Michael Wolfe
• MP	List of MPs Chak Au (Conservative) Richmond Centre—Marpole Parm Bains (Liberal) Richmond East—Steveston
• MLA	List of MLAs Hon Chan (BCC) Richmond Centre Kelly Greene (NDP) Richmond-Steveston Steve Kooner (BCC) Richmond-Queensborough Teresa Wat (BCC) Richmond-Bridgeport
Area [2]
• Land	128.87 km2 (49.76 sq mi)
Highest elevation	12 m (39 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	209,937
• Estimate  (2023)[3]	229,781
• Rank	26th in Canada 4th in British Columbia 4th in Metro Vancouver
• Density	1,629.0/km2 (4,219/sq mi)
Demonym	Richmondite[4]
Time zone	UTC−08:00 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−07:00 (PDT)
Forward sortation area	V6V – V6Y, V7A – V7C, V7E
Area codes	604, 778, 236, 672
Highways	Highway 91 Highway 99
Website	richmond.ca

Richmond is a city in the coastal Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly a suburban city, it occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the adjacent Sea Island (where the Vancouver International Airport is located) and several other smaller islands and uninhabited islets to its north and south, the suburb neighbours Vancouver and Burnaby on the Burrard Peninsula to the north, New Westminster and Annacis Island to the east, Delta to the south, and the Strait of Georgia to the west.

The indigenous Coast Salish peoples were the first people to inhabit the area of modern-day Richmond, with the Musqueam Band naming the site near Terra Nova "spələkʷəqs" or "boiling point".^[5] Today, East Asian Canadians make up a majority of Richmond's population, along with the Continental Asian Canadian population numbering almost three-fourths of the city's population. As a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, Richmond is composed of eight local neighbourhoods: Sea Island, City Centre, Thompson, West Richmond, Steveston, South Arm, East Richmond and Hamilton.^[6] As of 2023, the city has an estimated population of 229,781 people.^[3]

During the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Richmond Olympic Oval was a venue for long track speed skating events.

History

[edit]

Coast Salish bands had temporary camps on the island, to fish and collect berries, which were scattered and moved from year to year.^[7] Certain Coast Salish summer camps were located at Garry Point, and Woodward's Landing, along with the site of the Terra Nova cannery, which had at one time been a Musqueam village.^[8]

There is no definitive historical account as to how Richmond was named. There are several possibilities that have been proposed, including:

• The first family to settle in Richmond, that of Hugh McRoberts, had formerly lived in Australia. Their home there was called "Richmond View", and that is what they named their homestead in Richmond.
• W.D. Ferris drafted the original petition for the incorporation of The Township of Richmond. He was originally from Richmond, Surrey, England.
• Another early settler was Hugh Boyd. He was also the first Reeve of the township. His wife had been born in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England.^[9]

The Township of Richmond, British Columbia was incorporated on 10 November 1879. The Township of Richmond was modeled after Ontario's political townships – an incorporated municipality, consisting of communities that are united as a single entity with a single municipal administration. Each community was represented on the municipal council through a ward electoral system with five wards until 1946 when the ward electoral system was replaced with the at large electoral system that is currently in place.

On 3 December 1990, Richmond was designated as a City.

The first Town Hall, the Agricultural Hall and the Methodist Church (now Minoru Chapel), were built at the corner of No. 17 (River) Rd and No. 20 (Cambie) Rd near the main settlement on the northwestern tip of Lulu Island at North Arm.

The old fishing village of Steveston on the southwestern tip of Lulu Island is now home to several museums and heritage sites, as well as a working harbour for fishing boats. Currently, London Heritage Farm, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery and the Britannia Shipyard National Historic Site in Steveston highlight these parts of Richmond's diverse history.

Geography

[edit]

Richmond is made up of most of the islands in the Fraser River delta, the largest and most populated island being Lulu Island. The city of Richmond includes all but a small portion of Lulu Island (the Queensborough neighbourhood at the far eastern tip is part of the city of New Westminster). The next largest island, Sea Island, is home to the Vancouver International Airport (YVR). In addition to Lulu and Sea Islands, 15 smaller islands make up the city's 128.87 square kilometres (49.76 sq mi) land area, including:

• Mitchell Island, an industrial island accessed via the Knight Street Bridge, a bridge which connects Richmond and Vancouver.
• Richmond Island, a former sand bar that has been turned into a peninsula that can only be reached from Vancouver, but technically is within Richmond's city limits.
• Shady Island, an uninhabited island covered with trees, which can be reached over land by foot at low tide from near Steveston.

The city also includes the fishing village of Steveston, located in the far southwest corner of the city, and Burkeville, which shares Sea Island with the airport. Both Steveston and Burkeville were independent villages until they were annexed by Richmond.

Since all of Richmond occupies islands in a river delta, the city has plenty of rich, alluvial soil for agriculture, and was one of the first areas in British Columbia to be farmed by Europeans in the 19th century. The drawback of Richmond's geographical location was that since all the land averages just one metre above sea level, it was prone to flooding, especially during high tide. As a result, all the major islands are now surrounded by a system of dykes, which, although not as massive as those in the Netherlands or the levees of New Orleans, serve to protect the city from anticipated sources of flooding. There is a possibility that, during an earthquake, the dykes could rupture, and the alluvial soil may liquefy, causing extensive damage. Richmond is also at risk of a major flood if the Fraser River has an unusually high spring freshet. Recreational trails run along the tops of many of the dykes, and Richmond also supports about 1,400 acres (5.7 km²) of parkland.^[10]

Because of the high groundwater table, very few houses in Richmond have basements and until the late 1980s, very few buildings were above 3 storeys high. Also, because of proximity to the airport, current building codes limit the height of buildings to 150 feet (46 m).

Climate

[edit]

Richmond has an oceanic climate (Cfb). Because it is not as close to the mountains, it actually receives 30% less rain than neighbouring Vancouver.^[11] It rarely snows in winter, and the summer temperatures are mild to warm. Richmond is also very cloudy in the cooler months.

Climate data for Richmond Nature Park (1981–2010 Normals)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	16.5 (61.7)	19.5 (67.1)	24.0 (75.2)	28.5 (83.3)	34.5 (94.1)	37.0 (98.6)	37.0 (98.6)	33.5 (92.3)	35.0 (95.0)	26.0 (78.8)	18.5 (65.3)	14.0 (57.2)	37.0 (98.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	7.0 (44.6)	8.9 (48.0)	11.9 (53.4)	15.1 (59.2)	18.6 (65.5)	21.3 (70.3)	23.9 (75.0)	24.0 (75.2)	20.3 (68.5)	14.3 (57.7)	9.1 (48.4)	6.3 (43.3)	15.1 (59.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	4.0 (39.2)	4.9 (40.8)	7.3 (45.1)	10.0 (50.0)	13.3 (55.9)	16.1 (61.0)	18.3 (64.9)	18.2 (64.8)	15.0 (59.0)	10.3 (50.5)	6.0 (42.8)	3.4 (38.1)	10.6 (51.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	0.9 (33.6)	0.8 (33.4)	2.7 (36.9)	4.8 (40.6)	8.0 (46.4)	10.8 (51.4)	12.6 (54.7)	12.5 (54.5)	9.6 (49.3)	6.2 (43.2)	2.8 (37.0)	0.4 (32.7)	6.0 (42.8)
Record low °C (°F)	−15 (5)	−14 (7)	−7 (19)	−2 (28)	0.0 (32.0)	0.0 (32.0)	4.0 (39.2)	4.0 (39.2)	1.0 (33.8)	−6 (21)	−15.5 (4.1)	−16.5 (2.3)	−16.5 (2.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	178.6 (7.03)	114.9 (4.52)	112.2 (4.42)	95.4 (3.76)	71.9 (2.83)	62.2 (2.45)	37.2 (1.46)	40.1 (1.58)	56.8 (2.24)	127.2 (5.01)	199.3 (7.85)	166.7 (6.56)	1,262.4 (49.70)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	167.3 (6.59)	107.9 (4.25)	109.8 (4.32)	95.3 (3.75)	71.9 (2.83)	62.2 (2.45)	37.2 (1.46)	40.1 (1.58)	56.8 (2.24)	126.8 (4.99)	196.8 (7.75)	155.7 (6.13)	1,227.8 (48.34)
Average snowfall cm (inches)	11.3 (4.4)	7.0 (2.8)	2.3 (0.9)	0.2 (0.1)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.3 (0.1)	2.5 (1.0)	11.0 (4.3)	34.6 (13.6)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)	20.9	16.1	19.4	16.6	14.7	12.6	7.9	7.2	9.1	17.2	21.9	20.3	183.8
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)	19.9	15.4	19.3	16.6	14.7	12.6	7.9	7.2	9.1	17.1	21.5	19.1	180.4
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm)	2.0	1.3	0.77	0.04	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.08	0.64	2.2	7.1
Source: Environment Canada[12][13][14][15][16]

Demographics

[edit]

Historical populations

Year	Pop.	±%
1981	96,154	—
1991	126,624	+31.7%
1996	148,867	+17.6%
2001	164,345	+10.4%
2006	174,461	+6.2%
2011	190,473	+9.2%
2016	198,309	+4.1%
2021	209,937	+5.9%
[17]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Richmond had a population of 209,937 living in 81,080 of its 85,035 total private dwellings, a change of 5.9% from its 2016 population of 198,309. The average age of the population was 43.3 years old, and the median age of the population was 43.6.^[2] Of the population, 13.3 percent was 0 to 14 years of age, 20 percent was 65 years and over, 2.4 percent was 85 years and over, and 66.7 percent was the age 15 to 64 years old.^[2] Richmond's 2021 population of 209,937 makes it the fourth-largest city in British Columbia, after Vancouver (662,248), Surrey (568,322) and Burnaby (249,125).^[18]

Richmond has a land area of 128.87 km² (49.76 sq mi) and a population density of 1,629.1/km² (4,219.2/sq mi) in 2021.^[2] The average size of a household in Richmond is 2.6 persons. Most households have a household size of 2 persons, and the least households have 5 or more persons.^[2] Apartment buildings are the most common structural type of dwellings, made up of 18,590 apartment in a building that has fewer than five storeys, 15,475 apartment in a building that has five or more storeys, and 4,990 apartment or flat in a duplex.^[2] Single-detached houses are also popular with 24,435 single-detached houses located in Richmond. Other types of buildings include 1,585, semi-detached houses 15,945 row houses, 20 other single-attached houses, and 45 movable dwellings.^[2]

The average price of a detached home in Richmond is $1,581,600.^[19]

Richmond has an immigrant population of 60 percent, the highest in Canada.^[20]

Richmond is also home to two of the largest Buddhist temples in North America, the International Buddhist Temple and the Ling Yen Mountain Temple.

Ethnicity

[edit]

Approximately half of Richmond residents identify as having Chinese ancestry with the BBC calling it "North America's most Asian city" in 2012.^[a][23] East Asian Canadians make up a majority of Richmond's population, many of whom immigrated in the late 1980s, mostly from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mainland China on top of the Japanese Canadian community who immigrated to Canada nearly a century earlier. Almost three quarters of city's population is of Continental Asian descent, where other Continental Asian Canadians communities residing in Richmond include Indo-Canadians and Filipino Canadians.^[2][24]

Richmond's Japanese community has a long history in Steveston dating back to the 1800s. Following Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the Anti-Japanese sentiment grew, and this community was devastated as residents of Japanese descent were relocated to internment camps in the BC Interior and Alberta and their property sold at auction.

Further information: Demographics of Metro Vancouver § Historic trends

Panethnic groups in the City of Richmond (2001−2021)

Panethnic group	2021[25][26]		2016[27][28]		2011[29][30]		2006[31]		2001[32][33]
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
East Asian[b]	118,980	57.09%	109,415	55.64%	94,180	49.75%	80,245	46.23%	68,785	42.1%
European[c]	39,465	18.94%	45,050	22.91%	54,050	28.55%	59,335	34.19%	65,845	40.3%
Southeast Asian[d]	18,435	8.85%	15,530	7.9%	14,820	7.83%	11,035	6.36%	8,445	5.17%
South Asian	15,370	7.38%	14,360	7.3%	14,515	7.67%	13,860	7.99%	12,120	7.42%
Middle Eastern[e]	3,875	1.86%	2,715	1.38%	2,205	1.16%	2,115	1.22%	2,030	1.24%
Indigenous	1,540	0.74%	1,595	0.81%	1,935	1.02%	1,275	0.73%	1,165	0.71%
Latin American	2,155	1.03%	1,585	0.81%	1,680	0.89%	1,265	0.73%	1,165	0.71%
Black African	1,775	0.85%	1,270	0.65%	1,245	0.66%	1,390	0.8%	1,470	0.9%
Other/Multiracial[f]	6,800	3.26%	5,155	2.62%	4,675	2.47%	3,040	1.75%	2,380	1.46%
Total responses	208,400	99.27%	196,660	99.17%	189,305	99.39%	173,565	99.49%	163,395	99.42%
Total population	209,937	100%	198,309	100%	190,473	100%	174,461	100%	164,345	100%
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses

Languages

[edit]

The 2021 census found that English was spoken as mother tongue by 31.31% of the population. The next most common mother tongue language was Cantonese, spoken by 21.52% of the population, followed by Mandarin at 21.08%.^[34]

Rank	Mother tongue	Population	Percentage
1	English	65,440	31.31%
2	Cantonese	44,985	21.52%
3	Mandarin	44,060	21.08%
4	Filipino	7,735	3.70%
5	French	4,990	2.39%
6	Southern Min	2,360	1.13%
7	Japanese	2,170	1.04%
8	Spanish	2,055	0.98%
9	Russian	1,920	0.92%
10	Arabic	1,555	0.74%

 

Religion

[edit]

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Richmond included:^[35]

• Irreligion (111,140 persons or 53.3%)
• Christianity (64,405 persons or 30.9%)
• Buddhism (11,590 persons or 5.6%)
• Islam (7,630 persons or 3.7%)
• Sikhism (6,985 persons or 3.4%)
• Hinduism (2,605 persons or 1.3%)
• Judaism (2,515 persons or 1.2%)
• Indigenous spirituality (40 persons or <0.1%)

Economy

[edit]

Richmond supports about 100,000 jobs in various areas, including services, retailing, tourism, light manufacturing, airport services and aviation, agriculture, fishing, and government.^[36] Richmond also is a leading centre in the region for high-technology companies,^[37] including Norsat and Sierra Wireless.

Pacific Coastal Airlines has its headquarters in the South Terminal of Vancouver International Airport.^[38] Air Canada Jazz operates a regional office in Richmond.^[39]

Before its dissolution, Canadian Airlines operated an office in Richmond.^[40] Before it merged into Air Canada Jazz, regional airline Air BC was headquartered in Richmond.^[41] Prior to its dissolution, Harmony Airways, Pacific Western Airlines and Canadian Pacific Air Lines were all headquartered in Richmond.^[42][43][44]

The first McDonald's restaurant outside of the United States was opened in Richmond in June 1967.^[45]

Agriculture

[edit]

The Agricultural Land Reserve preserves 4,916 hectares within the city as farmland, an area that makes up most of east Richmond. Of this area, 3,012 hectares are farmed by 247 farms; the rest is either vacant or occupied by non-farm uses. Cranberries and blueberries are the dominant crops grown. Other crops grown include strawberries, corn, and potatoes. In 2001, Richmond had approximately 47% of BC's cranberry acreage.^[46]

Retail

[edit]

Richmond Centre, Lansdowne Centre, McArthurGlen Vancouver, Parker Place, Aberdeen Centre, and Central at Garden City are some of the most prominent malls in Richmond. The success of these malls has created significant economic growth in Richmond. In 2023, Richmond Centre was ranked 4th in Canada for shopping centres by sales per square foot.^[47] Offices, apartment buildings, and transportation hubs have sprung up around the mall. While McArthurGlen Vancouver has been given the Best Outlet Centre 2015 award at MAPIC.^[48]

Richmond is also home to many Chinese-oriented shopping malls, most of them along No. 3 Road from Alderbridge Way to Capstan Way. This area is officially termed as the "Golden Village" by Tourism Richmond ^[49] and includes malls such as Aberdeen Centre, Continental Centre, Union Square, President Plaza, Parker Place, and Yaohan Centre. The strip malls located on Alexandra Road are famous for their restaurants, and the area is more commonly known as "food street".^[50]

Neighbourhood shopping centres are distributed throughout Richmond's residential areas, serving as central gathering points for their surrounding communities. These centres provide essential services such as grocery stores, restaurants, cafes, and pharmacies.^[51] Examples include Garden City Shopping Centre,^[52] Blundell Centre,^[53] Broadmoor Village, Ironwood Plaza, Terra Nova Village, Cambie Plaza, and Seafair Shopping Centre.^[54]

Street-facing retail and dining establishments are also prevalent in the city, particularly concentrated in the City Centre and Steveston Village.^[51]

Development

[edit]

Richmond city planners are one year into their update of its official plan, passed in fall 2019,^[55] for the city centre. The plan is anchored by the Canada Line and includes the development of nine transit-oriented village centres. The population of the area is expected to grow from about 40,000 to 120,000 residents.

According to a senior planner for the city, the goal of the plan is to "turn the middle arm of the Fraser River into a focus instead of an edge."^[56] A Richmond parks manager said that for "too long residents have felt contained by the river, seen it as being to their backs. Now, they want people to face the river and embrace the waterfront."^[55]

Lansdowne

[edit]

Lansdowne Centre will be undergoing redevelopment in 2025 to make way for a 50-acre master planned mixed-use community, which is estimated to take 20 years to build out.^[57] Within this development plan, there will be mixed housing, large public spaces with a Civic Plaza slated to be placed in the corner of Lansdowne Road and No 3 Road. The property owner, Vanprop Investment Ltd., has plans for Lansdowne to be a pedestrian-friendly area with shops and services lined within its block.

The Olympic Oval

[edit]

Aspac Developments Ltd purchased 7.5 hectares (19 acres) of land adjacent to the Fraser River and the finished $178 million Richmond Olympic Oval. The $1 billion plan includes 16 high-density towers, up to 14 stories in height.^[58] The towers will be stepped toward the waterfront and will include trees and green space. Aspac's plans are for "probably the highest-end development Richmond has seen to date" said Mayor Brodie.^[59][60] A $2.3 million hard-surfaced path will be constructed along the river to link the project to Aberdeen Centre.^[59] Aspac's initial plan includes constructing the development in four phases, with the first phase consisting of 65,000 square metres (700,000 sq ft) of residential development, and 2,300 square metres (25,000 sq ft) of ground-level commercial space. Some construction will not begin until after 2010, and will take up to 12 years to complete. The warehouses and commercial parks near the development are also slated for redevelopment.^[59]

The John M.S. Lecky boathouse

[edit]

The University of British Columbia constructed the John M.S. Lecky boathouse^[61] along River Road. It draws crowds from rowing regattas and dragon boat races.

Cambie Road pedestrian bridge

[edit]

In 2007, A possible pedestrian bridge where Cambie Road reaches the river was included in a future vision of the area. It would have linked nature trails on the north and south banks, and made Aberdeen Centre within walking distance for BCIT's aerospace campus students.^[59] Interest around the project has since mellowed down and has not been mentioned within Official Community Plans since the initial studies for a possible bridge.

Capstan Village

[edit]

Developer Pinnacle International is planning a 16-building development on a seven-hectare (17-acre) property near Capstan Way and No 3 road. The mixed-use development would include over 2,100 residential units, various commercial uses, and a hotel.

The Canada Line is considered critical to the project. A fifth Richmond station at Capstan Way (No. 3 Road and Capstan Way) was originally planned, but was cancelled in March 2009. This station was considered so critical to the development that the City of Richmond has received $19 million from developers for the station to be built.^[62] TransLink, the Canada Line operator, started designing this station in November 2017.^[63] Construction started on Capstan station on September 2, 2021.^[64] On December 20, 2024, Capstan station opened to the public.^[65]

Aberdeen Square

[edit]

Fairchild Developments built a six-floor expansion to its Chinese-oriented shopping centre, Aberdeen Centre. The plan includes an office building and a link to the Canada Line's Aberdeen station. The new complex was completed and opened up to the public in 2014.

Bridgeport Station

[edit]

The River Rock Casino Resort is located near the Canada Line Bridgeport station and has built a 12-story hotel.

Garden City Lands

[edit]

The 55.2-hectare (136-acre) parcel known as the Garden City Lands was leased by the federal government for decades and was formerly used as a transmitter site for program requirements of the Canadian Coast Guard. The property is bounded by Westminster Highway, Garden City Road, Alderbridge Way and No. 4 Road and has been within the Provincial Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) since 1973.^[66] In 2005, the Federal Government of Canada deemed the land as "surplus" to its needs and sold the site to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation.^[67]

The City of Richmond, Canada Lands Company, and the Musqueam Indian Band entered a 2005 agreement with the federal government that included the intent to remove the land from the ALR for the purposes of high-density development.^[68] In April 2008, an application to exclude the land from the Agricultural Land Reserve was made to the Agricultural Land Commission. The application was rejected on 10 February 2009.^[69]

On 8 March 2010, Richmond City Council announced a deal had been approved whereby the city would purchase the entire parcel of land from the Musqueam Band and Canada Lands Company for $59.2 million.^[70]

The Musqueam band has since brought a lawsuit against the City of Richmond, claiming they sold it under duress. The lawsuit remains dormant and it is the understanding of Coun. Harold Steves that the lawsuit will remain dormant unless the city wants to develop the lands into anything that is not related to ALR use.^[71]

Arts and culture

[edit]

On Canada Day, Richmond has an annual festival in Steveston called the Steveston Salmon Festival. This event includes a parade, and a huge barbecued salmon sale in front of the Steveston Community Centre. Locally based municipal, provincial and federal politicians frequently show up at this event, usually as part of the parade and/or to hand out Canadian flags.

An annual Richmond Maritime Festival has been held at the Britannia Shipyard, National Historic Site every August since 2004. It is a family event that celebrates the region's maritime heritage with live entertainment, ships, exhibits and demonstrations.

In 2002, Richmond hosted a tall ships festival, which attracted an estimated 400,000 people to Steveston. The success of this event surpassed many expectations and caused traffic congestion in the usually quiet area.^[72][73] There was insufficient parking in the area, which gave locals the idea of selling "parking space" by using their driveways and front yards.^[74] Despite the event's popularity, there was a revenue shortfall and the city decided not to host the event again.^[75]

Many indoor and outdoor art exhibitions are hosted by Richmond Arts Coalition (RAC) throughout the year. The Richmond Arts Strategy, passed in July 2004 by the City of Richmond, includes a proposal to promote communication between arts organizations and develop the Richmond arts community. In January 2005, a Board, mission, and mandate was established. On 1 November 2005, artists, art organizations, and patrons of the arts formed the Richmond Arts Coalition. The RAC hosts Richmond arts events, connects the public to artists and events, provides artist opportunities, nominate awards, funds performers to specific events, stimulates arts projects, and advocate for arts issues, performances, education, creation, and exhibition activities.^[76]

During the summer weekends, an annual Richmond Night Market is held. Toys, clothes, cell phones, and food are available along with live entertainment. It is very popular and is usually crowded.

Richmond also hosted the 2006 Gemini Awards, which were held at River Rock Casino. This marked the first time the ceremony had taken place on the West Coast, as it traditionally takes place in Toronto.^[77]

Parks and recreation

[edit]

There are 140 public parks and 14 public recreation facilities in Richmond, including but not limited to:^[78][79]

• Cambie Community Centre
• City Centre Community Centre
• Hamilton Community Centre
• Iona Beach Regional Park
• Lang Centre (City Centre)
• McDonald Beach Park
• McLean Park
• Minoru Aquatic Centre
• Minoru Arenas
• Minoru Artificial Turf
• Minoru Park
• Minoru Sports Pavilion
• Richmond Ice Centre
• Richmond Olympic Oval
• Richmond Nature Park
• Richmond Public Library
• Sea Island Community Centre
• South Arm Community Centre
• South Arm Park
• South Arm Pool
• Steveston Community Centre
• Steveston Pool
• Terra Nova Nature Park
• Thompson Community Centre
• Watermania Aquatic Centre
• West Richmond Community Centre

An extensive trail system provides 136 kilometres of recreational trails in parks and 87 kilometres of on-road cycling paths. ^[80][81]

Sports

[edit]

Richmond is home to the Richmond Sockeyes Junior B hockey team. It also hosts the BC Thunder of the National Ringette League.^[82] Richmond also has two swim clubs: the Kigoos summer swimming club and the Richmond Rapids Swim Club. Richmond also has multiple soccer teams, under the name Richmond FC, ranging in ages and skill levels, from U4's to U18's, and from house divisions to elite programming.^[83] As of 1 October 2006, the middle arm of Richmond's Fraser River became home to both the UBC Thunderbirds varsity rowing program and St. George's School rowing program, with the completion of the new $6 million CAD John M.S. Lecky UBC Boathouse.^[84] In addition, this facility will also function to enhance participation in the sports of rowing and dragon boating for the greater community, including youth, adults, and rowing alumni.^[85] Richmond also has their own short track speed skating club, the Richmond Rockets and their own rugby union club, the Richmond Rugby Football Club.

The 2010 Winter Olympics

[edit]

For the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the City of Richmond constructed an 8,000-seat speed-skating oval near the No. 2 Road Bridge, just across (the middle arm of) the Fraser River from Vancouver International Airport. The final construction cost (paid for by the city, the provincial government and the federal government) is around $178 million CAD. Since the completion of the Games, the oval has served as a recreational structure for local residents. The Richmond Oval officially opened on 12 December 2008.^[86] The city received $141 million CAD from ASPAC Developments for city-owned land next to the Oval. The sale more than covers the unfunded portion of the Oval's price tag.^[60]

Richmond votes regularly for conservative or centrist parties, and is a stronghold for the BC Liberal Party.

Richmond's municipal council is elected using an at-large electoral system.

Like Vancouver, but unlike most cities in British Columbia, Richmond runs on a political system of locally based political parties, or slates. For the most part, however, their organization is weak, and they may collapse or change names from one election to another.

Local government includes a 9-member city council and a 7-member school board. City council consists of a mayor and 8 councillors. The current mayor of Richmond is Malcolm Brodie, who is serving his 6th term as mayor. The last elections were held in October 2018.

In the 2018 city elections, the RCA (Richmond Citizen's Association) party, the Richmond First party, and the RITE Richmond party all won 2 seats, the Richmond Community Coalition won one seat, and there is one independent. On the Richmond Board of Education, the Richmond Education Party won three seats, the Richmond First Party won two seats, and there are two independents.^[87]

In the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Richmond was historically a stronghold of the BC United Party until the 2020 provincial election where the BC NDP flipped three of Richmond's four electoral districts (Richmond South Centre, Richmond-Queensborough, and Richmond-Steveston).

In the most recent provincial election in 2024, three electoral districts (Richmond Centre, Richmond-Bridgeport, Richmond-Queensborough) elected members from the BC Conservatives, and Richmond-Steveston elected a member from the BC NDP.^[88]

In the House of Commons of Canada, Richmond is divided between two electoral districts: Richmond Centre, which encompasses the city's centre and west, and Steveston—Richmond East, which encompasses the south and east. In the 2021 federal election, the Liberal Party won Richmond Centre and Steveston—Richmond East.

Richmond is connected by a system of bridges and tunnels to Vancouver and Delta, and through the New Westminster suburb of Queensborough (on eastern Lulu Island) to the "mainland" portion of New Westminster. Three bridges (one of them twinned) connect Lulu Island to Sea Island and the Vancouver International Airport; one bridge connects Sea Island and the Vancouver International Airport to Vancouver; two bridges connect Lulu Island to Vancouver; one bridge connects Queensborough (on eastern Lulu Island) to New Westminster; one bridge connects Queensborough to Annacis Island in Delta; one twinned bridge connects Richmond to Annacis Island; and one of the few underwater tunnels in British Columbia connects Richmond to Delta.

Two freeways serve Richmond: Highway 99, which connects to Interstate 5 at the border with the United States, and Highway 91, which connects Delta, New Westminster, and Richmond.

Railway bridges connect Lulu Island to Vancouver, New Westminster, and Annacis Island, and serve the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways, as well as the Southern Railway of British Columbia (although the latter railway's Lulu Island trackage is entirely within Queensborough).

Public transportation in Richmond is provided by TransLink, the regional transit authority for Metro Vancouver. The system provides bus and rail service from Richmond to Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Burnaby, and Delta. The Canada Line is a SkyTrain rail line, connecting both Richmond and the airport to Downtown Vancouver and to points in between, opened on Monday, 17 August 2009. The Canada Line provides travel to Downtown Vancouver in 25 minutes with a frequency of 3 to 12 minutes, 20 hours per day. Major transit hubs include Richmond–Brighouse station, which serves as a hub for many Richmond bus routes, and Bridgeport station which serves as a hub for bus routes connecting to other municipalities. After the Canada Line closes at night, late-night service is provided by the N10 Nightbus every day of the week. The bus runs every 30 minutes, with the exception of one northbound trip (2 am – 3 am), during which service is at 60 minutes; service returns to 30 minutes after the northbound trip at 3 am.

A dockless bicycle-sharing system, consisting of e-bikes and e-scooters, was launched in the City Centre area in May 2022 by Lime .^[89]

Vancouver International Airport (YVR), located on Sea Island, which is part of Richmond, to the north of Lulu Island, provides most of the air access to the region. Several float plane companies (including Salt Spring Air, Harbour Air and Seair Seaplanes) operate from the south terminal, providing service to the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island. The airport is the second busiest in Canada and one of the busiest international airports on the West Coast of North America.

Health care in Richmond is overseen by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which also covers the City of Vancouver, District of West Vancouver, City of North Vancouver, and District of North Vancouver as well as coastal regions of British Columbia.

Richmond Hospital, located on the southeast corner of Westminster Highway and Gilbert Road, is undergoing redevelopment. In 2018, the Ministry of Health approved an 8-floor acute care tower redevelopment plan to replace the aging north tower.^[90] On 2 July 2020, the provincial government announced the acute care tower concept plan was being updated, with an additional floor (9 total) and announcement of expanded and renewed ER, ICU, Pharmacy, along with renovations to the south tower to include more inpatient psychiatric beds along with a psych ER.^[91]

The city is known internationally as the headquarters of the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society, and also as the city where the National Annual Hemochromatosis Awareness Month was initiated by former Mayor G. H. Blair in 1987.

The Richmond Fire-Rescue Department, established in 1897, is responsible for providing both fire and extrication services in Richmond. The department has seven fire halls and responds to fire rescue calls and medical emergencies. It also provides emergency services at Vancouver International Airport.^[92][93] There are fire stations located in City Centre, Steveston, Cambie, Sea Island, Hamilton, Shellmont, and Crestwood.^[93]

The City of Richmond utilizes the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as its primary form of municipal law enforcement, with their main detachment located on No. 5 Road in the Ironwood area. The Richmond RCMP also has community police stations located in City Centre, South Arm, and Steveston.^[94]

The British Columbia Ambulance Service provides the city with emergency medical response.

Richmond is home to a campus of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Sprott Shaw College and Trinity Western University. The British Columbia Institute of Technology also runs an aerospace technology campus in Sea Island near Vancouver International Airport.

School District 38 Richmond oversees 10 public secondary schools and 38 public elementary schools, including three Montessori schools, two late French immersion schools, and six early French immersion schools. The district also hosts two International Baccalaureate programs, located at Richmond Secondary School and Hugh Boyd Secondary School.

The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique, headquartered in Richmond,^[95] operates one Francophone primary school in that city: école des Navigateurs.^[96]

Richmond is also home to a number of private schools providing K-12 education, including Richmond Christian School, Muslim School of British Columbia, St. Paul's Elementary School, St. Joseph the Worker Elementary School, Richmond Jewish Day School, Choice School for the Gifted and Exceptional, Cornerstone Christian Academy, and Pythagoras Academy. ^[97]

The Indo-Canadian radio station Sher-E-Punjab has its headquarters in Richmond.^[98]

Two Chinese-Canadian radio stations providing news, traffic, and music are headquartered in Richmond. Fairchild Radio, headquartered in Aberdeen Centre, is a radio station with programming for both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers.^[99] CHMB AM1320, a radio station for Cantonese speakers, is headquartered in East Richmond.^[100]

Z95-3's studio is located in the Ironwood area of Richmond. The radio station provides Metro Vancouver listeners with hot adult contemporary, incorporating a mix of older songs with Top 40 hits.^[101]

Steveston Village has played home to several major American movies such as Blade II and The 6th Day, and television series such as The X-Files, Supernatural, The Secret Circle, The Outer Limits, Killer Instinct, Smallville, Stargate SG-1, the Final Destination series and the Scary Movie series. It is also the location for the fictitious town of Storybrooke in the ABC TV series Once Upon a Time.

Fantasy Gardens (an old amusement park which is relocated now) served as Halloweentown in the popular Disney Channel television movie Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge and was also featured in the TV series Killer Instinct and Stargate SG-1. The television series Aliens in America and Life Unexpected also made use of Cambie Secondary School in the northern part of the city.

The exterior of the Workers' Compensation Board building (now the WorkSafeBC building) was used for the hospital in Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital.^[102] These exteriors can now be seen on the CBS series Eleventh Hour.

Vancouver International Airport on Richmond's Sea Island has also been featured in numerous films and television series, commonly standing in for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (as it does in The Cleaner and Dead Like Me). It is also featured as stand-ins for other airports in films such as Final Destination, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The L Word, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Are We There Yet?

The Aerospace Technology Campus of BCIT, located just next to Vancouver International Airport, was used as a military academy mess hall for the live-action prequel series for the popular console game Halo 4 in Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. In addition, many other films, such as Rise of the Planet of the Apes and This Means War, were filmed there due to the directors taking a liking to the cement structure of the building, which makes for very official-looking sets.

Richmond serves as the Vancouver headquarters for the Fairchild Media Group which broadcasts Cantonese and Mandarin television channels from Aberdeen Centre. Their channels include Fairchild TV, Fairchild TV 2, and Talentvision.^[103]

Richmond's sister cities are:^[104]

• Pierrefonds-Roxboro (Montreal), Canada (since 1967)
• Wakayama, Japan (since 1973)
• Xiamen, China (since 2012)

Since 2008, Richmond also has a friendship city relationship with Qingdao, China.^[104]

• Architecture of Greater Vancouver
• Flag of Richmond, British Columbia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richmond, British Columbia.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Richmond, British Columbia.

• Official website

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original state.^[1] It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions. It can also prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy use, air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling).

Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and represents the third step in the "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle" waste hierarchy, contributing to environmental sustainability and resource conservation.^[2][3] It promotes environmental sustainability by removing raw material input and redirecting waste output in the economic system.^[4] There are some ISO standards related to recycling, such as ISO 15270:2008 for plastics waste and ISO 14001:2015 for environmental management control of recycling practice.

Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, tires, textiles, batteries, and electronics. The composting and other reuse of biodegradable waste—such as food and garden waste—is also a form of recycling.^[5] Materials for recycling are either delivered to a household recycling center or picked up from curbside bins, then sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials for manufacturing new products.

In ideal implementations, recycling a material produces a fresh supply of the same material—for example, used office paper would be converted into new office paper, and used polystyrene foam into new polystyrene. Some types of materials, such as metal cans, can be remanufactured repeatedly without losing their purity.^[6] With other materials, this is often difficult or too expensive (compared with producing the same product from raw materials or other sources), so "recycling" of many products and materials involves their reuse in producing different materials (for example, paperboard). Another form of recycling is the salvage of constituent materials from complex products, due to either their intrinsic value (such as lead from car batteries and gold from printed circuit boards), or their hazardous nature (e.g. removal and reuse of mercury from thermometers and thermostats).

Reusing materials has been a common practice for most of human history with recorded advocates as far back as Plato in the fourth century BC.^[7] During periods when resources were scarce, archaeological studies of ancient waste dumps show less household waste (such as ash, broken tools, and pottery), implying that more waste was recycled in place of new material.^[8] However, archaeological artefacts made from recyclable material, such as glass or metal, may neither be the original object nor resemble it, with the consequence that a successful ancient recycling economy can become invisible when recycling is synonymous with re-melting rather than reuse.^[9]

In pre-industrial times, there is evidence of scrap bronze and other metals being collected in Europe and melted down for continuous reuse.^[10] Paper recycling was first recorded in 1031 when Japanese shops sold repulped paper.^[11][12] In Britain dust and ash from wood and coal fires was collected by "dustmen" and downcycled as a base material for brick making. These forms of recycling were driven by the economic advantage of obtaining recycled materials instead of virgin material, and the need for waste removal in ever-more-densely populated areas.^[8] In 1813, Benjamin Law developed the process of turning rags into "shoddy" and "mungo" wool in Batley, Yorkshire, which combined recycled fibers with virgin wool.^[13] The West Yorkshire shoddy industry in towns such as Batley and Dewsbury lasted from the early 19th century to at least 1914.

Industrialization spurred demand for affordable materials. In addition to rags, ferrous scrap metals were coveted as they were cheaper to acquire than virgin ore. Railroads purchased and sold scrap metal in the 19th century, and the growing steel and automobile industries purchased scrap in the early 20th century. Many secondary goods were collected, processed and sold by peddlers who scoured dumps and city streets for discarded machinery, pots, pans, and other sources of metal. By World War I, thousands of such peddlers roamed the streets of American cities, taking advantage of market forces to recycle post-consumer materials into industrial production.^[14]

Manufacturers of beverage bottles, including Schweppes,^[15] began offering refundable recycling deposits in Great Britain and Ireland around 1800. An official recycling system with refundable deposits for bottles was established in Sweden in 1884, and for aluminum beverage cans in 1982; it led to recycling rates of 84–99%, depending on type (glass bottles can be refilled around 20 times).^[16]

New chemical industries created in the late 19th century both invented new materials (e.g. Bakelite in 1907) and promised to transform valueless into valuable materials. Proverbially, you could not make a silk purse of a sow's ear—until the US firm Arthur D. Little published in 1921 "On the Making of Silk Purses from Sows' Ears", its research proving that when "chemistry puts on overalls and gets down to business [...] new values appear. New and better paths are opened to reach the goals desired."^[17]

Recycling—or "salvage", as it was then usually known—was a major issue for governments during World War II, where financial constraints and significant material shortages made it necessary to reuse goods and recycle materials.^[18] These resource shortages caused by the world wars, and other such world-changing events, greatly encouraged recycling.^[19][18] It became necessary for most homes to recycle their waste, allowing people to make the most of what was available. Recycling household materials also meant more resources were left available for war efforts.^[18] Massive government campaigns, such as the National Salvage Campaign in Britain and the Salvage for Victory campaign in the United States, occurred in every fighting nation, urging citizens to donate metal, paper, rags, and rubber as a patriotic duty.

A considerable investment in recycling occurred in the 1970s due to rising energy costs.^[20] Recycling aluminium uses only 5% of the energy of virgin production. Glass, paper and other metals have less dramatic but significant energy savings when recycled.^[21]

Although consumer electronics have been popular since the 1920s, recycling them was almost unheard of until early 1991.^[22] The first electronic waste recycling scheme was implemented in Switzerland, beginning with collection of old refrigerators, then expanding to cover all devices.^[23] When these programs were created, many countries could not deal with the sheer quantity of e-waste, or its hazardous nature, and began to export the problem to developing countries without enforced environmental legislation. (For example, recycling computer monitors in the United States costs 10 times more than in China.) Demand for electronic waste in Asia began to grow when scrapyards found they could extract valuable substances such as copper, silver, iron, silicon, nickel, and gold during the recycling process.^[24] The 2000s saw a boom in both the sales of electronic devices and their growth as a waste stream: In 2002, e-waste grew faster than any other type of waste in the EU.^[25] This spurred investment in modern automated facilities to cope with the influx, especially after strict laws were implemented in 2003.^[26]

As of 2014, the European Union had about 50% of world share of waste and recycling industries, with over 60,000 companies employing 500,000 people and a turnover of €24 billion.^[27] EU countries are mandated to reach recycling rates of at least 50%; leading countries are already at around 65%. The overall EU average was 39% in 2013^[28] and is rising steadily, to 45% in 2015.^[29][30]

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly set 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, specifies 11 targets "to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns".^[31] The fifth target, Target 12.5, is defined as substantially reducing waste generation by 2030, indicated by the National Recycling Rate.

In 2018, changes in the recycling industry have sparked a global "crisis". On 31 December 2017, China announced its "National Sword" policy, setting new standards for imports of recyclable material and banning materials deemed too "dirty" or "hazardous". The new policy caused drastic disruptions in the global recycling market, and reduced the prices of scrap plastic and low-grade paper. Exports of recyclable materials from G7 countries to China dropped dramatically, with many shifting to countries in southeast Asia. This generated significant concern about the recycling industry's practices and environmental sustainability. The abrupt shift caused countries to accept more materials than they could process, and raised fundamental questions about shipping waste from developed countries to countries with few environmental regulations—a practice that predated the crisis.^[32]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. Find sources: "recycling health" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2023)

According to the WHO (2023), “Every year millions of electrical and electronic devices are discarded ... a threat to the environment and to human health if they are not treated, disposed of, and recycled appropriately. Common items ... include computers ... e-waste are recycled using environmentally unsound techniques and are likely stored in homes and warehouses, dumped, exported or recycled under inferior conditions. When e-waste is treated using inferior activities, it can release as many as 1000 different chemical substances ... including harmful neurotoxicants such as lead.”^[33] A paper in the journal Sustainable Materials & Technologies remarks upon the difficulty of managing e-waste, particularly from home automation products, which, due to their becoming obsolete at a high rate, are putting increasing strain on recycling systems, which have not adapted to meet the recycling needs posed by this type of product.^[34]

Copper slag is obtained when copper and nickel ores are recovered from their source ores using a pyrometallurgical process, and these ores usually contain other elements which include iron, cobalt, silica, and alumina.^[35] An estimate of 2.2–3 tons of copper slag is generated per ton of copper produced, resulting in around 24.6 tons of slag per year, which is regarded as waste.^[36][37]

Environmental impact of slag include copper paralysis, which leads to death due to gastric hemorrhage, if ingested by humans. It may also cause acute dermatitis upon skin exposure.^[38] Toxicity may also be uptaken by crops through soil, consequently spreading animals and food sources and increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, cognitive impairment, chronic anemia, and damage to kidneys, bones, nervous system, brain and skin.^[39]

Substituting gravel and grit in quarries has been more cost-effective, due to having its sources with better proximity to consumer markets. Trading between countries and establishment of blast furnaces is helping increase slag utilization, hence reducing wastage and pollution.^[40]

Economist Steven Landsburg, author of a paper entitled "Why I Am Not an Environmentalist",^[41] claimed that paper recycling actually reduces tree populations. He argues that because paper companies have incentives to replenish their forests, large demands for paper lead to large forests while reduced demand for paper leads to fewer "farmed" forests.^[42]

When foresting companies cut down trees, more are planted in their place; however, such farmed forests are inferior to natural forests in several ways. Farmed forests are not able to fix the soil as quickly as natural forests. This can cause widespread soil erosion and often requiring large amounts of fertilizer to maintain the soil, while containing little tree and wild-life biodiversity compared to virgin forests.^[43] Also, the new trees planted are not as big as the trees that were cut down, and the argument that there would be "more trees" is not compelling to forestry advocates when they are counting saplings.

In particular, wood from tropical rainforests is rarely harvested for paper because of their heterogeneity.^[44] According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat, the overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is subsistence farming (48% of deforestation) and commercial agriculture (32%), which is linked to food, not paper production.^[45]

Other non-conventional methods of material recycling, like Waste-to-Energy (WTE) systems, have garnered increased attention in the recent past due to the polarizing nature of their emissions. While viewed as a sustainable method of capturing energy from material waste feedstocks by many, others have cited numerous explanations for why the technology has not been scaled globally.^[46]

For a recycling program to work, a large, stable supply of recyclable material is crucial. Three legislative options have been used to create such supplies: mandatory recycling collection, container deposit legislation, and refuse bans. Mandatory collection laws set recycling targets for cities, usually in the form that a certain percentage of a material must be diverted from the city's waste stream by a target date. The city is responsible for working to meet this target.^[5]

Container deposit legislation mandates refunds for the return of certain containers—typically glass, plastic and metal. When a product in such a container is purchased, a small surcharge is added that the consumer can reclaim when the container is returned to a collection point. These programs have succeeded in creating an average 80% recycling rate.^[47] Despite such good results, the shift in collection costs from local government to industry and consumers has created strong opposition in some areas^[5]—for example, where manufacturers bear the responsibility for recycling their products. In the European Union, the WEEE Directive requires producers of consumer electronics to reimburse the recyclers' costs.^[48]

An alternative way to increase the supply of recyclates is to ban the disposal of certain materials as waste, often including used oil, old batteries, tires, and garden waste. This can create a viable economy for the proper disposal of the products. Care must be taken that enough recycling services exist to meet the supply, or such bans can create increased illegal dumping.^[5]

Four forms of legislation have also been used to increase and maintain the demand for recycled materials: minimum recycled content mandates, utilization rates, procurement policies, and recycled product labeling.^[5]

Both minimum recycled content mandates and utilization rates increase demand by forcing manufacturers to include recycling in their operations. Content mandates specify that a certain percentage of a new product must consist of recycled material. Utilization rates are a more flexible option: Industries can meet their recycling targets at any point of their operations, or even contract out recycling in exchange for tradable credits. Opponents to these methods cite their large increase in reporting requirements, and claim that they rob the industry of flexibility.^[5][49]

Governments have used their own purchasing power to increase recycling demand through "procurement policies". These policies are either "set-asides", which reserve a certain amount of spending for recycled products; or "price preference" programs that provide larger budgets when recycled items are purchased. Additional regulations can target specific cases: in the United States, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency mandates the purchase of oil, paper, tires and building insulation from recycled or re-refined sources whenever possible.^[5]

The final government regulation toward increased demand is recycled product labeling. When producers are required to label their packaging with the amount of recycled material it contains (including the packaging), consumers can make more educated choices. Consumers with sufficient buying power can choose more environmentally conscious options, prompting producers to increase the recycled material in their products and increase demand. Standardized recycling labeling can also have a positive effect on the supply of recyclates when it specifies how and where the product can be recycled.^[5]

"Recyclate" is a raw material sent to and processed in a waste recycling plant or materials-recovery facility^[50] so it can be used in the production of new materials and products. For example, plastic bottles can be made into plastic pellets and synthetic fabrics.^[51]

The quality of recyclates is one of the principal challenges for the success of a long-term vision of a green economy and achieving zero waste. It generally refers to how much of it is composed of target material, versus non-target material and other non-recyclable material.^[52] Steel and other metals have intrinsically higher recyclate quality; it is estimated that two-thirds of all new steel comes from recycled steel.^[53] Only target material is likely to be recycled, so higher amounts of non-target and non-recyclable materials can reduce the quantity of recycled products.^[52] A high proportion of non-target and non-recyclable material can make it more difficult to achieve "high-quality" recycling; and if recyclate is of poor quality, it is more likely to end up being down-cycled or, in more extreme cases, sent to other recovery options or landfilled.^[52] For example, to facilitate the remanufacturing of clear glass products, there are tight restrictions for colored glass entering the re-melt process. Another example is the downcycling of plastic, where products such as plastic food packaging are often downcycled into lower quality products, and do not get recycled into the same plastic food packaging.

The quality of recyclate not only supports high-quality recycling, but it can also deliver significant environmental benefits by reducing, reusing, and keeping products out of landfills.^[52] High-quality recycling can support economic growth by maximizing the value of waste material.^[52] Higher income levels from the sale of quality recyclates can return value significant to local governments, households and businesses.^[52] Pursuing high-quality recycling can also promote consumer and business confidence in the waste and resource management sector, and may encourage investment in it.

There are many actions along the recycling supply chain, each of which can affect recyclate quality.^[54] Waste producers who place non-target and non-recyclable wastes in recycling collections can affect the quality of final recyclate streams, and require extra efforts to discard those materials at later stages in the recycling process.^[54] Different collection systems can induce different levels of contamination. When multiple materials are collected together, extra effort is required to sort them into separate streams and can significantly reduce the quality of the final products.^[54] Transportation and the compaction of materials can also make this more difficult. Despite improvements in technology and quality of recyclate, sorting facilities are still not 100% effective in separating materials.^[54] When materials are stored outside, where they can become wet, can also cause problems for re-processors. Further sorting steps may be required to satisfactorily reduce the amount of non-target and non-recyclable material.^[54]

A number of systems have been implemented to collect recyclates from the general waste stream, occupying different places on the spectrum of trade-off between public convenience and government ease and expense. The three main categories of collection are drop-off centers, buy-back centers and curbside collection.^[5] About two-thirds of the cost of recycling is incurred in the collection phase.^[55]

Curbside collection encompasses many subtly different systems, which differ mostly on where in the process the recyclates are sorted and cleaned. The main categories are mixed waste collection, commingled recyclables, and source separation.^[5] A waste collection vehicle generally picks up the waste.

In mixed waste collection, recyclates are collected mixed with the rest of the waste, and the desired materials are sorted out and cleaned at a central sorting facility. This results in a large amount of recyclable waste (especially paper) being too soiled to reprocess, but has advantages as well: The city need not pay for the separate collection of recyclates, no public education is needed, and any changes to the recyclability of certain materials are implemented where sorting occurs.^[5]

In a commingled or single-stream system, recyclables are mixed but kept separate from non-recyclable waste. This greatly reduces the need for post-collection cleaning, but requires public education on what materials are recyclable.^[5][10]

Source separation is the other extreme, where each material is cleaned and sorted prior to collection. It requires the least post-collection sorting and produces the purest recyclates. However, it incurs additional operating costs for collecting each material, and requires extensive public education to avoid recyclate contamination.^[5] In Oregon, USA, Oregon DEQ surveyed multi-family property managers; about half of them reported problems, including contamination of recyclables due to trespassers such as transients gaining access to collection areas.^[56]

Source separation used to be the preferred method due to the high cost of sorting commingled (mixed waste) collection. However, advances in sorting technology have substantially lowered this overhead, and many areas that had developed source separation programs have switched to what is called co-mingled collection.^[10]

At buy-back centers, separated, cleaned recyclates are purchased, providing a clear incentive for use and creating a stable supply. The post-processed material can then be sold. If profitable, this conserves the emission of greenhouse gases; if unprofitable, it increases their emission. Buy-back centres generally need government subsidies to be viable. According to a 1993 report by the U.S. National Waste & Recycling Association, it costs an average $50 to process a ton of material that can be resold for $30.^[5]

Drop-off centers require the waste producer to carry recyclates to a central location—either an installed or mobile collection station or the reprocessing plant itself. They are the easiest type of collection to establish but suffer from low and unpredictable throughput.

For some waste materials such as plastic, recent technical devices called recyclebots^[57] enable a form of distributed recycling called DRAM (distributed recycling additive manufacturing). Preliminary life-cycle analysis (LCA) indicates that such distributed recycling of HDPE to make filament for 3D printers in rural regions consumes less energy than using virgin resin, or using conventional recycling processes with their associated transportation.^[58][59]

Another form of distributed recycling mixes waste plastic with sand to make bricks in Africa.^[60] Several studies have looked at the properties of recycled waste plastic and sand bricks.^[61][62] The composite pavers can be sold at 100% profit while employing workers at 1.5× the minimum wage in the West African region, where distributed recycling has the potential to produce 19 million pavement tiles from 28,000 tons of plastic water sachets annually in Ghana, Nigeria, and Liberia.^[63] This has also been done with COVID19 masks.^[64]

Once commingled recyclates are collected and delivered to a materials recovery facility, the materials must be sorted. This is done in a series of stages, many of which involve automated processes, enabling a truckload of material to be fully sorted in less than an hour.^[10] Some plants can now sort materials automatically; this is known as single-stream recycling. Automatic sorting may be aided by robotics and machine learning.^[65][66] In plants, a variety of materials is sorted including paper, different types of plastics, glass, metals, food scraps, and most types of batteries.^[67] A 30% increase in recycling rates has been seen in areas with these plants.^[68] In the US, there are over 300 materials recovery facilities.^[69]

Initially, commingled recyclates are removed from the collection vehicle and placed on a conveyor belt spread out in a single layer. Large pieces of corrugated fiberboard and plastic bags are removed by hand at this stage, as they can cause later machinery to jam.^[10]

Next, automated machinery such as disk screens and air classifiers separate the recyclates by weight, splitting lighter paper and plastic from heavier glass and metal. Cardboard is removed from mixed paper, and the most common types of plastic—PET (#1) and HDPE (#2)—are collected, so these materials can be diverted into the proper collection channels. This is usually done by hand; but in some sorting centers, spectroscopic scanners are used to differentiate between types of paper and plastic based on their absorbed wavelengths.^[10] Plastics tend to be incompatible with each other due to differences in chemical composition; their polymer molecules repel each other, similar to oil and water.^[70]

Strong magnets are used to separate out ferrous metals such as iron, steel and tin cans. Non-ferrous metals are ejected by magnetic eddy currents: A rotating magnetic field induces an electric current around aluminum cans, creating an eddy current inside the cans that is repulsed by a large magnetic field, ejecting the cans from the stream.^[10]

Finally, glass is sorted according to its color: brown, amber, green, or clear. It may be sorted either by hand,^[10] or by a machine that uses colored filters to detect colors. Glass fragments smaller than 10 millimetres (0.39 in) cannot be sorted automatically, and are mixed together as "glass fines".^[71]

In 2003, San Francisco's Department of the Environment set a citywide goal of zero waste by 2020.^[72] San Francisco's refuse hauler, Recology, operates an effective recyclables sorting facility that has helped the city reach a record-breaking landfill diversion rate of 80% as of 2021.^[73] Other American cities, including Los Angeles, have achieved similar rates.

Although many government programs concentrate on recycling at home, 64% of waste in the United Kingdom is generated by industry.^[74] The focus of many recycling programs in industry is their cost-effectiveness. The ubiquitous nature of cardboard packaging makes cardboard a common waste product recycled by companies that deal heavily in packaged goods, such as retail stores, warehouses, and goods distributors. Other industries deal in niche and specialized products, depending on the waste materials they handle.

Glass, lumber, wood pulp and paper manufacturers all deal directly in commonly recycled materials; however, independent tire dealers may collect and recycle rubber tires for a profit.

The waste produced from burning coal in a Coal-fired power station is often called fuel ash or fly ash in the United States. It is a very useful material and used in concrete construction. It exhibits Pozzolanic activity.^[75]

Levels of metals recycling are generally low. In 2010, the International Resource Panel, hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), published reports on metal stocks^[76] and their recycling rates.^[76] It reported that the increase in the use of metals during the 20th and into the 21st century has led to a substantial shift in metal stocks from below-ground to use in above-ground applications within society. For example, in the US, in-use copper grew from 73 to 238 kg per capita between 1932–1999.

The report's authors observed that, as metals are inherently recyclable, metal stocks in society can serve as huge above-ground mines (the term "urban mining" has thus been coined^[77]). However, they found that the recycling rates of many metals are low. They warned that the recycling rates of some rare metals used in applications such as mobile phones, battery packs for hybrid cars and fuel cells, are so low that unless future end-of-life recycling rates are dramatically increased, these critical metals will become unavailable for use in modern technology.

The military recycles some metals. The U.S. Navy's Ship Disposal Program uses ship breaking to reclaim the steel of old vessels. Ships may also be sunk to create artificial reefs. Uranium is a dense metal that has qualities superior to lead and titanium for many military and industrial uses. Uranium left over from processing it into nuclear weapons and fuel for nuclear reactors is called depleted uranium, and is used by all branches of the U.S. military for the development of such things as armor-piercing shells and shielding.

The construction industry may recycle concrete and old road surface pavement, selling these materials for profit.

Some rapidly growing industries, particularly the renewable energy and solar photovoltaic technology industries, are proactively creating recycling policies even before their waste streams have considerable volume, anticipating future demand.^[78]

Recycling of plastics is more difficult, as most programs are not able to reach the necessary level of quality. Recycling of PVC often results in downcycling of the material, which means only products of lower quality standard can be made with the recycled material.

E-waste is a growing problem, accounting for 20–50 million metric tons of global waste per year according to the EPA. It is also the fastest growing waste stream in the EU.^[25] Many recyclers do not recycle e-waste responsibly. After the cargo barge Khian Sea dumped 14,000 metric tons of toxic ash in Haiti, the Basel Convention was formed to stem the flow of hazardous substances into poorer countries. They created the e-Stewards certification to ensure that recyclers are held to the highest standards for environmental responsibility and to help consumers identify responsible recyclers. It operates alongside other prominent legislation, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive of the EU and the United States National Computer Recycling Act, to prevent poisonous chemicals from entering waterways and the atmosphere.

In the recycling process, television sets, monitors, cell phones, and computers are typically tested for reuse and repaired. If broken, they may be disassembled for parts still having high value if labor is cheap enough. Other e-waste is shredded to pieces roughly 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in size and manually checked to separate toxic batteries and capacitors, which contain poisonous metals. The remaining pieces are further shredded to 10 millimetres (0.39 in) particles and passed under a magnet to remove ferrous metals. An eddy current ejects non-ferrous metals, which are sorted by density either by a centrifuge or vibrating plates. Precious metals can be dissolved in acid, sorted, and smelted into ingots. The remaining glass and plastic fractions are separated by density and sold to re-processors. Television sets and monitors must be manually disassembled to remove lead from CRTs and the mercury backlight from LCDs.^[79][80][81]

Vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines can also be recycled. They often contain rare-earth elements (REE) and/or other critical raw materials. For electric car production, large amounts of REE's are typically required.^[82]

Whereas many critical raw elements and REE's can be recovered, environmental engineer Phillipe Bihouix Archived 6 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine reports that recycling of indium, gallium, germanium, selenium, and tantalum is still very difficult and their recycling rates are very low.^[82]

Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from their original state. For instance, this could mean melting down soft drink bottles and then casting them as plastic chairs and tables.^[83] For some types of plastic, the same piece of plastic can only be recycled about 2–3 times before its quality decreases to the point where it can no longer be used.^[6]

Some plastics are remelted to form new plastic objects; for example, PET water bottles can be converted into polyester destined for clothing. A disadvantage of this type of recycling is that the molecular weight of the polymer can change further and the levels of unwanted substances in the plastic can increase with each remelt.^[84][85]

A commercial-built recycling facility was sent to the International Space Station in late 2019. The facility takes in plastic waste and unneeded plastic parts and physically converts them into spools of feedstock for the space station additive manufacturing facility used for in-space 3D printing.^[86]

For some polymers, it is possible to convert them back into monomers, for example, PET can be treated with an alcohol and a catalyst to form a dialkyl terephthalate. The terephthalate diester can be used with ethylene glycol to form a new polyester polymer, thus making it possible to use the pure polymer again. In 2019, Eastman Chemical Company announced initiatives of methanolysis and syngas designed to handle a greater variety of used material.^[87]

Another process involves the conversion of assorted polymers into petroleum by a much less precise thermal depolymerization process. Such a process would be able to accept almost any polymer or mix of polymers, including thermoset materials such as vulcanized rubber tires and the biopolymers in feathers and other agricultural waste. Like natural petroleum, the chemicals produced can be used as fuels or as feedstock. A RESEM Technology^[88] plant of this type in Carthage, Missouri, US, uses turkey waste as input material. Gasification is a similar process but is not technically recycling since polymers are not likely to become the result. Plastic Pyrolysis can convert petroleum based waste streams such as plastics into quality fuels, carbons. Given below is the list of suitable plastic raw materials for pyrolysis:

• Mixed plastic (HDPE, LDPE, PE, PP, Nylon, Teflon, PS, ABS, FRP, PET etc.)
• Mixed waste plastic from waste paper mill
• Multi-layered plastic

In order to meet recyclers' needs while providing manufacturers a consistent, uniform system, a coding system was developed. The recycling code for plastics was introduced in 1988 by the plastics industry through the Society of the Plastics Industry.^[89] Because municipal recycling programs traditionally have targeted packaging—primarily bottles and containers—the resin coding system offered a means of identifying the resin content of bottles and containers commonly found in the residential waste stream.^[90]

In the United States, plastic products are printed with numbers 1–7 depending on the type of resin. Type 1 (polyethylene terephthalate) is commonly found in soft drink and water bottles. Type 2 (high-density polyethylene) is found in most hard plastics such as milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, and some dishware. Type 3 (polyvinyl chloride) includes items such as shampoo bottles, shower curtains, hula hoops, credit cards, wire jacketing, medical equipment, siding, and piping. Type 4 (low-density polyethylene) is found in shopping bags, squeezable bottles, tote bags, clothing, furniture, and carpet. Type 5 is polypropylene and makes up syrup bottles, straws, Tupperware, and some automotive parts. Type 6 is polystyrene and makes up meat trays, egg cartons, clamshell containers, and compact disc cases. Type 7 includes all other plastics such as bulletproof materials, 3- and 5-gallon water bottles, cell phone and tablet frames, safety goggles and sunglasses.^[91] Having a recycling code or the chasing arrows logo on a material is not an automatic indicator that a material is recyclable but rather an explanation of what the material is. Types 1 and 2 are the most commonly recycled.

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In addition to environmental impact, there is debate over whether recycling is economically efficient. According to a Natural Resources Defense Council study, waste collection and landfill disposal creates less than one job per 1,000 tons of waste material managed; in contrast, the collection, processing, and manufacturing of recycled materials creates 6–13 or more jobs per 1,000 tons.^[95] According to the U.S. Recycling Economic Informational Study, there are over 50,000 recycling establishments that have created over a million jobs in the US.^[96] The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) reported in May 2015 that recycling and waste made a $6.7 billion economic impact in Ohio, U.S., and employed 14,000 people.^[97] Economists^[who?] would classify this extra labor used as a cost rather than a benefit since these workers could have been employed elsewhere; the cost effectiveness of creating these additional jobs remains unclear.^{[citation needed]}

Sometimes cities have found recycling saves resources compared to other methods of disposal of waste. Two years after New York City declared that implementing recycling programs would be "a drain on the city", New York City leaders realized that an efficient recycling system could save the city over $20 million.^[98] Municipalities often see fiscal benefits from implementing recycling programs, largely due to the reduced landfill costs.^[99] A study conducted by the Technical University of Denmark according to the Economist found that in 83 percent of cases, recycling is the most efficient method to dispose of household waste.^[10][21] However, a 2004 assessment by the Danish Environmental Assessment Institute concluded that incineration was the most effective method for disposing of drink containers, even aluminium ones.^[100]

Fiscal efficiency is separate from economic efficiency. Economic analysis of recycling does not include what economists call externalities: unpriced costs and benefits that accrue to individuals outside of private transactions^{[citation needed]}. Examples include less air pollution and greenhouse gases from incineration and less waste leaching from landfills. Without mechanisms such as taxes or subsidies, businesses and consumers following their private benefit would ignore externalities despite the costs imposed on society. If landfills and incinerator pollution is inadequately regulated, these methods of waste disposal appear cheaper than they really are, because part of their cost is the pollution imposed on people nearby. Thus, advocates have pushed for legislation to increase demand for recycled materials.^[5] The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has concluded in favor of recycling, saying that recycling efforts reduced the country's carbon emissions by a net 49 million metric tonnes in 2005.^[10] In the United Kingdom, the Waste and Resources Action Programme stated that Great Britain's recycling efforts reduce CO₂ emissions by 10–15 million tonnes a year.^[10] The question for economic efficiency is whether this reduction is worth the extra cost of recycling and thus makes the artificial demand creates by legislation worthwhile.

Certain requirements must be met for recycling to be economically feasible and environmentally effective. These include an adequate source of recyclates, a system to extract those recyclates from the waste stream, a nearby factory capable of reprocessing the recyclates, and a potential demand for the recycled products. These last two requirements are often overlooked—without both an industrial market for production using the collected materials and a consumer market for the manufactured goods, recycling is incomplete and in fact only "collection".^[5]

Free-market economist Julian Simon remarked "There are three ways society can organize waste disposal: (a) commanding, (b) guiding by tax and subsidy, and (c) leaving it to the individual and the market". These principles appear to divide economic thinkers today.^[101]

Frank Ackerman favours a high level of government intervention to provide recycling services. He believes that recycling's benefit cannot be effectively quantified by traditional laissez-faire economics. Allen Hershkowitz supports intervention, saying that it is a public service equal to education and policing. He argues that manufacturers should shoulder more of the burden of waste disposal.^[101]

Paul Calcott and Margaret Walls advocate the second option. A deposit refund scheme and a small refuse charge would encourage recycling but not at the expense of illegal dumping. Thomas C. Kinnaman concludes that a landfill tax would force consumers, companies and councils to recycle more.^[101]

Most free-market thinkers detest subsidy and intervention, arguing that they waste resources. The general argument is that if cities charge the full cost of garbage collection, private companies can profitably recycle any materials for which the benefit of recycling exceeds the cost (e.g. aluminum^[102]) and do not recycle other materials for which the benefit is less than the cost (e.g. glass^[103]). Cities, on the other hand, often recycle even when they not only do not receive enough for the paper or plastic to pay for its collection, but must actually pay private recycling companies to take it off of their hands.^[102] Terry Anderson and Donald Leal think that all recycling programmes should be privately operated, and therefore would only operate if the money saved by recycling exceeds its costs. Daniel K. Benjamin argues that it wastes people's resources and lowers the wealth of a population.^[101] He notes that recycling can cost a city more than twice as much as landfills, that in the United States landfills are so heavily regulated that their pollution effects are negligible, and that the recycling process also generates pollution and uses energy, which may or may not be less than from virgin production.^[104]

Certain countries trade in unprocessed recyclates. Some have complained that the ultimate fate of recyclates sold to another country is unknown and they may end up in landfills instead of being reprocessed. According to one report, in America, 50–80 percent of computers destined for recycling are actually not recycled.^[105][106] There are reports of illegal-waste imports to China being dismantled and recycled solely for monetary gain, without consideration for workers' health or environmental damage. Although the Chinese government has banned these practices, it has not been able to eradicate them.^[107] In 2008, the prices of recyclable waste plummeted before rebounding in 2009. Cardboard averaged about £53/tonne from 2004 to 2008, dropped to £19/tonne, and then went up to £59/tonne in May 2009. PET plastic averaged about £156/tonne, dropped to £75/tonne and then moved up to £195/tonne in May 2009.^[108]

Certain regions have difficulty using or exporting as much of a material as they recycle. This problem is most prevalent with glass: both Britain and the U.S. import large quantities of wine bottled in green glass. Though much of this glass is sent to be recycled, outside the American Midwest there is not enough wine production to use all of the reprocessed material. The extra must be downcycled into building materials or re-inserted into the regular waste stream.^[5][10]

Similarly, the northwestern United States has difficulty finding markets for recycled newspaper, given the large number of pulp mills in the region as well as the proximity to Asian markets. In other areas of the U.S., however, demand for used newsprint has seen wide fluctuation.^[5]

In some U.S. states, a program called RecycleBank pays people to recycle, receiving money from local municipalities for the reduction in landfill space that must be purchased. It uses a single stream process in which all material is automatically sorted.^[109]

Much of the difficulty inherent in recycling comes from the fact that most products are not designed with recycling in mind. In the USA around 6 to 7 percent of plastic is recycled.^[110] The concept of sustainable design aims to solve this problem, and was laid out in the 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart.^[111] They suggest that every product (and all packaging it requires) should have a complete "closed-loop" cycle mapped out for each component—a way in which every component either returns to the natural ecosystem through biodegradation or is recycled indefinitely.^[10][112]

Complete recycling is impossible from a practical standpoint. In summary, substitution and recycling strategies only delay the depletion of non-renewable stocks and therefore may buy time in the transition to true or strong sustainability, which ultimately is only guaranteed in an economy based on renewable resources.^[113]: 21

— M. H. Huesemann, 2003

While recycling diverts waste from entering directly into landfill sites, current recycling misses the dispersive components. Critics believe that complete recycling is impracticable as highly dispersed wastes become so diluted that the energy needed for their recovery becomes increasingly excessive.

As with environmental economics, care must be taken to ensure a complete view of the costs and benefits involved. For example, paperboard packaging for food products is more easily recycled than most plastic, but is heavier to ship and may result in more waste from spoilage.^[114] Economic expenses can incentivize fraud.^[115]

Critics dispute the net economic and environmental benefits of recycling over its costs, and suggest that proponents of recycling often make matters worse and suffer from confirmation bias. Specifically, critics argue that the costs and energy used in collection and transportation detract from (and outweigh) the costs and energy saved in the production process; also that the jobs produced by the recycling industry can be a poor trade for the jobs lost in logging, mining, and other industries associated with production; and that materials such as paper pulp can only be recycled a few times before material degradation prevents further recycling.^[116]

The amount of energy saved through recycling depends upon the material being recycled and the type of energy accounting that is used. Correct accounting for this saved energy can be accomplished with life-cycle analysis using real energy values, and in addition, exergy, which is a measure of how much useful energy can be used. In general, it takes far less energy to produce a unit mass of recycled materials than it does to make the same mass of virgin materials.^{[117][118][119]}

Some scholars use emergy (spelled with an m) analysis, for example, budgets for the amount of energy of one kind (exergy) that is required to make or transform things into another kind of product or service. Emergy calculations take into account economics that can alter pure physics-based results. Using emergy life-cycle analysis researchers have concluded that materials with large refining costs have the greatest potential for high recycle benefits. Moreover, the highest emergy efficiency accrues from systems geared toward material recycling, where materials are engineered to recycle back into their original form and purpose, followed by adaptive reuse systems where the materials are recycled into a different kind of product, and then by-product reuse systems where parts of the products are used to make an entirely different product.^[120]

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) states on its website that "a paper mill uses 40 percent less energy to make paper from recycled paper than it does to make paper from fresh lumber."^[121] Some critics argue that it takes more energy to produce recycled products than it does to dispose of them in traditional landfill methods, since the curbside collection of recyclables often requires a second waste truck. However, recycling proponents point out that a second timber or logging truck is eliminated when paper is collected for recycling, so the net energy consumption is the same. An emergy life-cycle analysis on recycling revealed that fly ash, aluminum, recycled concrete aggregate, recycled plastic, and steel yield higher efficiency ratios, whereas the recycling of lumber generates the lowest recycle benefit ratio. Hence, the specific nature of the recycling process, the methods used to analyse the process, and the products involved affect the energy savings budgets.^[120]

It is difficult to determine the amount of energy consumed or produced in waste disposal processes in broader ecological terms, where causal relations dissipate into complex networks of material and energy flow.

[C]ities do not follow all the strategies of ecosystem development. Biogeochemical paths become fairly straight relative to wild ecosystems, with reduced recycling, resulting in large flows of waste and low total energy efficiencies. By contrast, in wild ecosystems, one population's wastes are another population's resources, and succession results in efficient exploitation of available resources. However, even modernized cities may still be in the earliest stages of a succession that may take centuries or millennia to complete.^[122]: 720

How much energy is used in recycling also depends on the type of material being recycled and the process used to do so. Aluminium is generally agreed to use far less energy when recycled rather than being produced from scratch. The EPA states that "recycling aluminum cans, for example, saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount of aluminum from its virgin source, bauxite."^[123][124] In 2009, more than half of all aluminium cans produced came from recycled aluminium.^[125] Similarly, it has been estimated that new steel produced with recycled cans reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 75%.^[126]

Every year, millions of tons of materials are being exploited from the earth's crust, and processed into consumer and capital goods. After decades to centuries, most of these materials are "lost". With the exception of some pieces of art or religious relics, they are no longer engaged in the consumption process. Where are they? Recycling is only an intermediate solution for such materials, although it does prolong the residence time in the anthroposphere. For thermodynamic reasons, however, recycling cannot prevent the final need for an ultimate sink.^[127]: 1

— P. H. Brunner

Economist Steven Landsburg has suggested that the sole benefit of reducing landfill space is trumped by the energy needed and resulting pollution from the recycling process.^[128] Others, however, have calculated through life-cycle assessment that producing recycled paper uses less energy and water than harvesting, pulping, processing, and transporting virgin trees.^[129] When less recycled paper is used, additional energy is needed to create and maintain farmed forests until these forests are as self-sustainable as virgin forests.

Other studies have shown that recycling in itself is inefficient to perform the "decoupling" of economic development from the depletion of non-renewable raw materials that is necessary for sustainable development.^[130] The international transportation or recycle material flows through "... different trade networks of the three countries result in different flows, decay rates, and potential recycling returns".^[131]: 1 As global consumption of a natural resources grows, their depletion is inevitable. The best recycling can do is to delay; complete closure of material loops to achieve 100 percent recycling of nonrenewables is impossible as micro-trace materials dissipate into the environment causing severe damage to the planet's ecosystems.^{[132][133][134]} Historically, this was identified as the metabolic rift by Karl Marx, who identified the unequal exchange rate between energy and nutrients flowing from rural areas to feed urban cities that create effluent wastes degrading the planet's ecological capital, such as loss in soil nutrient production.^[135][136] Energy conservation also leads to what is known as Jevon's paradox, where improvements in energy efficiency lowers the cost of production and leads to a rebound effect where rates of consumption and economic growth increases.^[134][137]

Journalist John Tierney notes that it is generally more expensive for municipalities to recycle waste from households than to send it to a landfill and that "recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America."^[138]

The amount of money actually saved through recycling depends on the efficiency of the recycling program used to do it. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance argues that the cost of recycling depends on various factors, such as landfill fees and the amount of disposal that the community recycles. It states that communities begin to save money when they treat recycling as a replacement for their traditional waste system rather than an add-on to it and by "redesigning their collection schedules and/or trucks".^[139]

In some cases, the cost of recyclable materials also exceeds the cost of raw materials. Virgin plastic resin costs 40 percent less than recycled resin.^[121] Additionally, a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study that tracked the price of clear glass from 15 July to 2 August 1991, found that the average cost per ton ranged from $40 to $60^[140] while a USGS report shows that the cost per ton of raw silica sand from years 1993 to 1997 fell between $17.33 and $18.10.^[141]

Comparing the market cost of recyclable material with the cost of new raw materials ignores economic externalities—the costs that are currently not counted by the market. Creating a new piece of plastic, for instance, may cause more pollution and be less sustainable than recycling a similar piece of plastic, but these factors are not counted in market cost. A life cycle assessment can be used to determine the levels of externalities and decide whether the recycling may be worthwhile despite unfavorable market costs. Alternatively, legal means (such as a carbon tax) can be used to bring externalities into the market, so that the market cost of the material becomes close to the true cost.

The recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment can create a significant amount of pollution. This problem is specifically occurrent in India and China. Informal recycling in an underground economy of these countries has generated an environmental and health disaster. High levels of lead (Pb), polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated dioxins, and furans, as well as polybrominated dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs and PBDD/Fs), concentrated in the air, bottom ash, dust, soil, water, and sediments in areas surrounding recycling sites.^[142] These materials can make work sites harmful to the workers themselves and the surrounding environment.

In some countries, recycling is performed by the entrepreneurial poor such as the karung guni, zabbaleen, the rag-and-bone man, waste picker, and junk man. With the creation of large recycling organizations that may be profitable, either by law or economies of scale,^[143][144] the poor are more likely to be driven out of the recycling and the remanufacturing job market. To compensate for this loss of income, a society may need to create additional forms of societal programs to help support the poor.^[145] Like the parable of the broken window, there is a net loss to the poor and possibly the whole of a society to make recycling artificially profitable, e.g. through the law. However, in Brazil and Argentina, waste pickers/informal recyclers work alongside the authorities, in fully or semi-funded cooperatives, allowing informal recycling to be legitimized as a paid public sector job.^[146]

Because the social support of a country is likely to be less than the loss of income to the poor undertaking recycling, there is a greater chance for the poor to come in conflict with the large recycling organizations.^[147][148] This means fewer people can decide if certain waste is more economically reusable in its current form rather than being reprocessed. Contrasted to the recycling poor, the efficiency of their recycling may actually be higher for some materials because individuals have greater control over what is considered "waste".^[145]

One labor-intensive underused waste is electronic and computer waste. Because this waste may still be functional and wanted mostly by those on lower incomes, who may sell or use it at a greater efficiency than large recyclers.

Some recycling advocates believe that laissez-faire individual-based recycling does not cover all of society's recycling needs. Thus, it does not negate the need for an organized recycling program.^[145] Local government can consider the activities of the recycling poor as contributing to the ruining of property.

Changes that have been demonstrated to increase recycling rates include:

• Single-stream recycling
• Pay as you throw fees for trash

In a study done by social psychologist Shawn Burn,^[149] it was found that personal contact with individuals within a neighborhood is the most effective way to increase recycling within a community. In her study, she had 10 block leaders talk to their neighbors and persuade them to recycle. A comparison group was sent fliers promoting recycling. It was found that the neighbors that were personally contacted by their block leaders recycled much more than the group without personal contact. As a result of this study, Shawn Burn believes that personal contact within a small group of people is an important factor in encouraging recycling. Another study done by Stuart Oskamp^[150] examines the effect of neighbors and friends on recycling. It was found in his studies that people who had friends and neighbors that recycled were much more likely to also recycle than those who did not have friends and neighbors that recycled.

Many schools have created recycling awareness clubs in order to give young students an insight on recycling. These schools believe that the clubs actually encourage students to not only recycle at school but at home as well.

Recycling of metals varies extremely by type. Titanium and lead have an extremely high recycling rates of over 90%. Copper and cobalt have high rates of recycling around 75%. Only about half of aluminum is recycled. Most of the remaining metals have recycling rates of below 35%, while 34 types of metals have recycling rates of under 1%.^[151]

"Between 1960 and 2000, the world production of plastic resins increased 25 times its original amount, while recovery of the material remained below 5 percent."^[152]: 131 Many studies have addressed recycling behaviour and strategies to encourage community involvement in recycling programs. It has been argued^[153] that recycling behavior is not natural because it requires a focus and appreciation for long-term planning, whereas humans have evolved to be sensitive to short-term survival goals; and that to overcome this innate predisposition, the best solution would be to use social pressure to compel participation in recycling programs. However, recent studies have concluded that social pressure does not work in this context.^[154] One reason for this is that social pressure functions well in small group sizes of 50 to 150 individuals (common to nomadic hunter–gatherer peoples) but not in communities numbering in the millions, as we see today. Another reason is that individual recycling does not take place in the public view.

Following the increasing popularity of recycling collection being sent to the same landfills as trash, some people kept on putting recyclables on the recyclables bin.^[155]

Art objects are more and more often made from recycled material.

By extending the lifespan of goods, parts, and materials, a circular economy seeks to minimize waste and maximize resource utilization.^[156] Advanced sorting techniques like optical and robotic sorting may separate and recover valuable materials from waste streams, lowering the requirement for virgin resources and accelerating the shift to a circular economy.

Community engagement, such as education and awareness campaigns, may support the acceptance of recycling and reuse programs and encourage the usage of sustainable practices. One can lessen our influence on the environment, save natural resources, and generate economic possibilities by adopting a circular economy using cutting-edge sorting technology and community engagement. According to Melati et al.,^[157] to successfully transition to a circular economy, legislative and regulatory frameworks must encourage sustainable practices while addressing possible obstacles and difficulties in putting these ideas into action.