--- --- # Why Recycling Is a Bad Deal for Cities by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Jun 30, 2015 4:00 PM UTC by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Jun 30, 2015 4:00 PM UTC **1\.** [**Find out why recycling used to be a good deal for cities, but now it’s costing them millions.**](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/american-recycling-is-stalling-and-the-big-blue-bin-is-one-reason-why/2015/06/20/914735e4-1610-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c%5Fstory.html) By Aaron C. Davis at the Washington Post **2\.** [**Setting its sights on the next billion users, Facebook is opening its first office in Africa.**](http://recode.net/2015/06/29/facebook-is-opening-its-first-office-in-africa/) By Kurt Wagner in Re/code **3\.** [**We can save $40 billion of National Park land and assets from climate destruction.**](http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/interior-department-releases-report-detailing-40-billion-of-national-park-assets-at-risk-from-sea-level-rise.cfm) By the U.S. Department of the Interior **4\.** [**Let’s get rid of religious tax exemptions.**](http://time.com/3939143/nows-the-time-to-end-tax-exemptions-for-religious-institutions/) By Mark Oppenheimer in Time **5\.** [**Violence is contagious. Tackle it like an infectious disease.**](http://www.salon.com/2015/06/27/violence%5Fis%5Fcontagious%5Fstopping%5Fits%5Ftransmission%5Fbecame%5Fthe%5Fmission%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fman%5Fwhod%5Ffought%5Ftb%5Fand%5Fcholera%5Fin%5Fsomalia/) By Alexa Clay and Kyra Maya Phillips in Salon  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ Why Recycling Is a Bad Deal for Cities ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3941073/recycling-bad-cities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3941073/recycling-bad-cities/"},"headline":"Why Recycling Is a Bad Deal for Cities","datePublished":"2015-06-30T16:00:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:43.316Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/3941073/recycling-bad-cities/","keywords":["Innovation","climate change","facebook","violence","recycling","National Parks"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3941073/recycling-bad-cities/","name":"Why Recycling Is a Bad Deal for Cities"}}]}] ```