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And just like that, America's strongest voice for recycling is gone. What kind of lasting damage that will do to the cause of recycling remains to be seen, but it won't be small.

The NRC's board of directors voted to dissolve and file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Sept. 2, and the organization closed its doors 2 days later after 30 years. There are many explanations as to why it happened, but the faltering economy is a big one cited by the NRC's board. One ramification of that, the board said, was reduced corporate sponsorships.

And therein lies a big problem I have with the NRC membership on this whole sad story. The association announced Aug. 27 that membership rejected a proposal to merge with Keep America Beautiful. The NRC closed its doors 10 days later. Gee, I guess they were serious about being in financial trouble.

KAB promised to take care of the NRC's $500,000 in debt and let them operate much as before. But merger opponents thought the NRC would be crawling into bed with corporate interests, as they saw KAB as heavily supported by the business community.

Many of those same opponents were displeased with the recent direction of the NRC, believing it was doing too much with companies like Coca-Cola. Even now, with the NRC in ashes, people on the Internet sites like Green Yes are screaming about not getting involved with evil corporations.

Yes, those same evil corporations that helped keep the NRC afloat for years.

The economy and the world are too complex to expect financial support for a venture with little more than good intentions. Grass roots organizations need some well-heeled backing.

That doesn't mean compromising your basic goals. It actually should be an opportunity to become much broader and stronger if you're looking at the big picture.

There's a segment of the NRC folk that are the classic bite-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face folks. They wanted the NRC to keep its recycling mission pure. Now it's dead as a viable, national voice. Pure and simple.

Allan Gerlat is editor of Waste & Recycling News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.

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