SOME SAY RECYCLING JUST SHIFTS PROBLEM.(Main)

Byline: Phil Brown Staff writer

Joe Visalli has a story he likes to tell to illustrate his argument that recycling efforts don't always help save the Earth. Last year, he said, restaurants at the Empire State Plaza switched from plastic foam to paper cups - on the grounds that paper cups are less harmful to the environment.

But because the paper cups failed to retain heat well, he said, many people used two cups instead of one, creating more waste. And, because the paper cups were lined with plastic, they couldn't be recycled.

"Switching from Styrofoam to paper with a plastic liner was a flop, in my view," said Visalli, a program manager at the …