Band 9 Essay Sample | Should Recycling Be Made A Legal Requirement?

Here is a band 9 essay sample on a topic that appeared in a recently held IELTS exam.

Some people claim that not enough of the waste from homes is recycled. They say that the only way to increase recycling is for governments to make it a legal requirement. To what extent do you think laws are needed to make people recycle more of their waste?

Band 9 IELTS Essay Sample

There are people who believe that recycling can be encouraged / promoted by making it a legal requirement. I agree with this view to a certain extent. In my opinion, laws may help but creating adequate facilities for recycling is more important than enacting laws.

Many people are aware of the benefits of recycling; yet they prefer to dump their domestic waste on the streets or in landfills. Garbage is piling up in many cities across the world. It is the breeding ground of fleas and mosquitoes that spread diseases. If all families start the practice of recycling at least the wet garbage they produce, our cities and streets will be a whole lot cleaner and healthier.

If recycling is made a legal requirement more and more people will definitely adopt that practice. There are certainly some people who will act only if they are bound by the law. There are also many people who do not require any laws. They only need access to recycling facilities. Therefore, in my opinion, before enacting a law, the government must build recycling units in all towns and villages. If people have easy access to recycling facilities, they have no reason to throw waste around. Actually, if we make a thorough analysis of this problem we can see that in many cities where garbage is a big problem, there is a dearth of recycling facilities.

The government should also consider offering subsidies to families that want to build biogas plants to recycle their domestic waste. In addition, it can distribute compost bins for free. If there is a law and adequate recycling facilities in place, all people will certainly try to find a better use for their household waste.

To conclude, enacting a law that makes recycling a legal requirement will certainly encourage more people to adopt this practice. However, before enforcing it by law, the government has to ensure that adequate facilities are in place.