That is the conviction of one of Oklahoma's leading garbage men, Fenton Rood. As the director of Waste Systems Planning for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, Rood has a good vantage point from which to make that assessment. The key to successful recycling is a strong industry who wants to turn our recyclable materials into new products. Oklahoma is home to more than twenty major manufacturing plants who use our recyclables as their raw materials, so we are really a national recycling center. I am proud that many of my recycling friends in other states tell me they ship their materials to Oklahoma.
Rood points out, though, that Oklahoma still has recycling progress to make.
We still throw away far too much paper, metal, plastic, glass and other recoverable resources. We need to do a better job of developing recycling programs. Our Oklahoma recycling manufacturers want our recyclables since they are the cheapest source of their raw materials. As important as recycling is for environmental protection, it may be even more significant to Oklahoma's economic development. The state's growing recycling infrastructure creates new economic opportunities.