Merger
proposal isnīt the answer
By Clifford Case
Like Bill Heenan, I am an honorary
director of the National Recycling
Coalition. Indeed, I founded it, some 31
years ago. I value Bill as a friend and
respect him as a supporter of recycling
in general and of the NRC in particular.
But Bill is dead wrong that the proposed
absorption of the NRC into Keep America
Beautiful -- resulting in the NRCīs
compete elimination as an independent
organization -- will be good for
recycling [see "A vote in favor of
NRC-KAB merger," July 20, Page 9]. It
will not. NRC members should vote "No"
on the KAB proposal.
I
founded the National Recycling Coalition
in 1978 because although there was
widespread grassroots support for
recycling, there was no national
advocate to focus that support and unite
recyclingīs supporters. Even today,
there is no broad-based national
recycling advocate other than the NRC.
And it is needed more than ever: We face
major challenges in increasing recycling
of traditional materials as well as
addressing electronics and other
hard-to-recycle items.
Most
recycling supporters agree that
structural changes in our nationīs
economy -- not just voluntary actions by
individuals -- will be needed if
progress in recycling is to be made. At
the same time, we can expect that
greater demands will be made on
recycling collection, processing and
manufacturing systems to save energy and
conserve resources in order to meet the
massive challenges posed by climate
change.
Is this
the right time to eliminate the
countryīs largest independent national
voice for recycling? I donīt think so.
But what
about the argument that KAB will provide
a good home for the NRC and will be an
effective advocate for recycling itself?
That position does not hold water. If
KAB had had any intention of acting as
an effective advocate for recycling, it
would have already done so, and would
not need the NRC.
The
truth is that KAB is an admirable
supporter of voluntary efforts to
promote cleaning up litter. It is not
and never has been an independent
advocate for recycling.
KABīs
proposal calls for a council of
recycling supporters within KAB. But
that council will be subject to full KAB
board control and will have little or no
impact on KABīs decision-making when the
hard choices that will either advance or
retard recycling and resource
conservation have to be made.
The only
argument in favor of the absorption of
the NRC into KAB is financial, namely
that KAB will bail out several hundred
thousand dollars in NRC debt, built up
over several years of apparent financial
mismanagement. But selling out -- and
silencing forever -- the only
independent national voice for recycling
for a few hundred thousand dollars is a
truly poor bargain. This cannot be the
right answer!
Instead,
let's negotiate ourselves out of the
current financial bind, work out a
responsible repayment plan and rebuild
an effective, independent NRC. Our first
step must be to reject decisively KABīs
wrong-headed "merger" proposal.
If you
support recycling, you must vote "No" on
the KAB proposal.
Case is
a partner at the law firm Carter Ledyard
& Milburn LLP in New York City and
Washington. He co-directs the firmīs
environmental law practice. He founded
the National Recycling Coalition in 1978
and served as its first president.
(Aug. 3 issue,
Waste and Recycling News)
