Last summer, co-blogger and NC gubernatorial candidate Mike Munger wrote a very interesting article and did a very interesting podcast on the quasi-religious aura surrounding recycling. I have green sympathies, but as I understand it, recycling a lot of stuff (paper, green glass, etc.) actually creates net environmental damage. Meanwhile, the case for recycling electronics, batteries, and printer cartridges is both environmentally and economically sound (I get what little knowledge I have of this from Mike, who teaches environmental econ). Public policy, however, encourages wasteful recycling while discouraging more efficient recycling. My hunch is that the marginal benefit of each dollar spent on recycling batteries, electronics, and printer cartridges is higher than the marginal benefit of each dollar spent on recycling paper, plastic, and glass. I realize that incomplete property rights and politics make this a pretty complicated issue, but I wonder if we might Pareto-improve by shifting resources away from recycling paper, plastic, and glass and toward recycling electronics. Comments are open if anyone has any thoughts on this.