Is recycling dying?
Are the materials in our bins actually being recycled?
It has now been a year since China banned the importing of plastic waste from around the globe. Prior to China putting a halt on importing plastic waste and other recyclables, the United States would send thousands of shipping containers full of recyclables to China each day. For years and years, this was a sweet gig for the U.S. because we didn’t have the manpower or the resource recovery facilities to keep up with the processing and sorting of the materials. But China did, and for decades, they turned our post-consumer materials into new products.
If everything was working out so smoothly, what happened? Contamination. Much of what was being imported to China was contaminated with food waste and non-recyclable materials. To put it simply, contaminated recyclables equal trash. The issue of contamination went on for years until finally China pulled the plug and banned all imports.
Here we are today, still recycling, but so many of us have no idea what is happening to our recyclables. This bothered me to no end, so I reached out to our local waste disposal company on Friday night and asked the question; where are our recyclables ending up? To my surprise, I received a detailed and honest answer. In a nutshell, if they aren’t stuck sitting in a shipping container at a port on the West Coast, they are very likely going to the landfill. (As a reminder, I am located in Rhode Island, so things could be different in your area)
Why can’t the United States process our own recyclable materials? We can and there are companies in the U.S taking our materials, but there are more materials than demand and in many cases it’s simply more cost effective to just use new resources rather than transport and process the recycled materials.
Are there any recycled materials that still hold value? Steel, aluminum, and…. plastic? Don’t shoot the messenger here, I almost fell off my chair when I read this. What about glass and paper?! Believe it or not, there are few secondary markets for glass. It is super heavy to transport making it a costly endeavor, and while it can be used for construction aggregate and asphalt, most companies are hesitant to change their current processes. Sadly, paper materials also hold little value because they are often contaminated by food waste and broken glass. This contamination is a result of combining all our materials into one bin; also known as single stream recycling. Ultimately, steel and aluminum hold the most value today…So go ahead, crack that second crisp, refreshing ale.
Let’s go back to plastic holding more value than glass. First, the transportation costs of plastic are much lower than glass because plastic is lightweight. Secondly, plastics also have a high BTU (British Thermal Unit) content. In times like this, when our recyclables are not exactly being recycled, having a high BTU content is “beneficial” because this means plastics can be used in a waste-to-energy burn facility and “recycled” into renewable energies such as electricity and fuels. As we all know, there are three sides to every story and I’m sure there are many arguments against burning plastics. But right now, there is no perfect solution, and, in my opinion, we are in the beginning stages of a recycling and waste crisis so it’s important that we explore different solutions.
So…is recycling dying? Pretty much. Most items that we currently recycle are going to the landfill. Does that mean you should start putting everything in your trash bin? No. I would suggest that you continue to put your clean recyclables into your recycling bin as there are some items that have the potential to be recycled efficiently. But most importantly, we need to be mindful of what we are consuming. Our purchasing behaviors impact our municipal waste facilities greatly. Please, please, please try to divert as much waste from your local landfill as possible. Use your reusable cups, pack your lunch, start a compost pile, don’t forget your reusable bags, and instead of shopping every weekend- go volunteer or spend the day outdoors!
