l. If a product's price is higher than its equilibrium level, the price will fall, while, if the price is lower than the product's equilibrium level, the price will rise (Slavin, 1994, pp. 55-56).
As will be seen below, economic decisions require making a choice. The choice is whether to pursue one action or the other. In the case of the recycling industry, the basic choice that must be made is whether to engage in recycling. Making decisions about whether to recycle products requires that other avenues of action be foregone. Thus, a company which decides to take part in the recycling industry makes a choice to forego taking part in some other business venture. The things given up, or the lesser choices, are known as the opportunity cost of making the choice. In economic terms, "the opportunity cost of any choice is the foregone value of the next best alternative" (Slavin, 1994, p. 29). Obviously, the value foregone is considered by the chooser to be less valuable than that of the choice made.
Another economic concept which is important in t
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