Brickbat: Shifting the Costs

With the market for recyclables in the doldrums, some Maine cities have opted to end their curbside recycling programs because the costs of those programs exceed the costs of just sending that material to the landfill. But Democratic state Rep. Ralph Tucker has a 21-page bill that would force companies that make packaging to subsidize local recycling programs. Industry officials oppose the bill, noting that it will do nothing to actually create a market for recyclables and that it would force them to pass the costs onto consumers.