Recycling cooperative
Encyclopedia
A recycling cooperative is an industrial cooperative
, co-owned and maintained by either workers or consumers, which specializes in the recycling
of various materials. Such cooperatives are either non-profit or not-for-profit; a major theoretical benefit of mass co-ownership is that raw recycled materials can become increasingly and equally distributed among the membership population at a low cost, be it for reusage at home or for reusage in the manufacturing of newer goods or versions of goods to be sold to customers at cheaper prices than would be possible with freshly obtained raw materials. A subset is the business recycling cooperative, which, according to the Northeast Recycling Council, is a group of business in a particular region, which separate recyclable waste, usually produced by their own functions, for prearranged collection by a shared hauler.
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
, co-owned and maintained by either workers or consumers, which specializes in the recycling
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
of various materials. Such cooperatives are either non-profit or not-for-profit; a major theoretical benefit of mass co-ownership is that raw recycled materials can become increasingly and equally distributed among the membership population at a low cost, be it for reusage at home or for reusage in the manufacturing of newer goods or versions of goods to be sold to customers at cheaper prices than would be possible with freshly obtained raw materials. A subset is the business recycling cooperative, which, according to the Northeast Recycling Council, is a group of business in a particular region, which separate recyclable waste, usually produced by their own functions, for prearranged collection by a shared hauler.
Examples
- Free GeekFree GeekFree Geek is a collectively run non-profit organization started in Portland, Oregon in 2000. Free Geek has two central goals: to reuse or recycle used computer equipment that might otherwise become hazardous waste, and to make computer technology more accessible to those who lack financial means or...
, a cooperative non-profit which recycles old computer parts and e-waste for re-usage in refurbished new computers which are sold preinstalled with free and open source softwareFree and open source softwareFree and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code... - Headwaters Cooperative Recycling
- South Shore Recycling Cooperative
- Biofuel Recycling Cooperative
- Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative
- Central Recycling Cooperative
- Orange County Recycling Cooperative
- North Central West Virginia Recycling Cooperative
- Recycling Marketing Cooperative for Tennessee
- Magpie Recycling Co-operative
- Connecticut Agricultural Plastics Recycling Cooperative
- Environmental Co-op