(This is not a question about a top cause area; this question stems mainly from simple curiosity. I thought I would ask it here because I figured EAs might have an answer or would be interested, not because I think an answer is very important to improving the world.)
Like everyone I know (my base culture is American East Coast liberal), I do recycling in my household for metal, paper, cardboard, and glass. I’ve wondered over the years what the effects of my recycling really are. Recently I came across this piece of criticism by an economist, which contends that, for most things (not aluminum, for instance), recycling is a net harm to the environment:
https://www.aier.org/article/most-things-recycling-harms-environment
I found it to be thought-provoking, but not by itself convincing. I’m unable to find other work that assesses the impact of recycling from a utilitarian, counterfactual point of view with fifteen minutes of Googling. (For example, I’m able to find https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/5-recycling-myths-busted-plastic/ but it doesn’t seem on the level: it makes points like “recycling creates jobs!”—jobs are good, but could we spend that money elsewhere and create more jobs?)
Does anyone know of any, or have relevant expertise themselves?
Rob Wiblin wrote a post about recycling and garbage disposal last month; you might find what you’re looking for there or in the references at the bottom.
Thank you!