“The way the system is configured right now, recycling is a service that competes - and unsurprisingly often loses - for local funding that is also needed for schools, policing, et cetera,” said Stephanie Kersten-Johnston, an adjunct professor in Columbia University’s Sustainability Management Master’s Program and director of circular ventures at The Recycling Partnership. recycling was dependent on China for so many years, our domestic recycling infrastructure was never developed, so there was no economical or efficient way to handle recycling when the market disappeared. Over 70 ended curbside recycling (though several have been reinstituted after public protests), and many drop-off sites closed some programs increased costs to residents while others limited what materials they would accept. Municipalities that couldn’t afford to pay more have cut back on their recycling programs. Franklin, NH had been able to sell its recyclables for $6 a ton now the transfer station charges $125 a ton to recycle the material or $68 a ton to incinerate it. Bakersfield, CA used to earn $65 a ton from its recyclables after 2018, it had to pay $25 a ton to get rid of them. In 2017, Stamford, CT made $95,000 by selling recyclables in 2018, it had to pay $700,000 to have them removed. processing facilities and municipalities have either had to pay more to recycle or simply discard the waste. “If there is not a market for the recycled material, then the numbers do not work for these facilities as well as cities, as they need to sell the materials to recoup their costs of collection and transportation, and even then it’s typically only a portion of the costs.” “The economics are challenging,” said Nilda Mesa, director of the Urban Sustainability and Equity Planning Program at the Earth Institute’s Center for Sustainable Urban Development. Without the Chinese market for plastic - as well as for some types of cardboard, paper, and glass - the U.S. One study found that the plastic waste exported to Southeast Asia resulted in contaminated water, crop death, respiratory illnesses due to toxic fumes from incineration, and organized crime. Experts estimate that 20 to 70 percent of plastic intended for recycling overseas is unusable and is ultimately discarded. still ships over 1 million metric tons a year of plastic waste abroad, often to countries already overwhelmed by it. diverted its waste to Cambodia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Laos, Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal - countries with cheap labor and lax environmental rules. When these countries later instituted bans on imported plastic waste, the U.S. then sent its plastic waste to other countries, shipping 68,000 containers to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand in 2018. In 2018, China’s National Sword policy banned the import of most plastics and other materials that were not up to new, more stringent purity standards. Recycling in Harbin, China. Photo: GabrieleBattaglia While incineration is sometimes used to produce energy, waste-to-energy plants have been associated with toxic emissions in the past. They usually end up being incinerated, deposited in landfills or washed into the ocean.

Moreover, many items that are collected, such as plastic straws and bags, eating utensils, yogurt and takeout containers often cannot be recycled. Other materials can’t be processed in certain facilities. Contamination can prevent large batches of material from being recycled. Many recyclables become contaminated when items are placed in the wrong bin, or when a dirty food container gets into the recycling bin. This post will explain why, and talk about potential solutions. And while many Americans dutifully put items into their recycling bins, much of it does not actually end up being recycled. In 1960, Americans generated 2.68 pounds of garbage per day by 2017, it had grown to an average of 4.51 pounds.

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