New Challenges to the Recycling Industry

Chinese ban may impact the cost of environmentalism in Wisconsin

Besides protecting the environment by saving energy, slowing climate change and reducing pollution, recycling saves money. In Milwaukee, recycling prevented more than $1 million in landfill disposal costs in 2017, and it earned nearly $1.9 million in revenues, which almost offset curbside collection costs, according to Rick Meyers, sanitation services manager for the City of Milwaukee...

....Recycling one ton of glass saves the equivalent of 10 gallons of oil, while recycling one ton of aluminum saves the equivalent of 2,350 gallons of oil....

...In early 2018, China stopped taking foreign recyclables, upsetting world markets. “We’re in the middle of an interesting time in our industry,” says Analiese Smith, solid waste supervisor for Waukesha County. “On a global scale, China, which imported a lot of recyclables, has had growing problems with contaminated recyclables. Some of our fellow recyclers, especially on the coasts, exported a lot of their material to China. Now that that has been turned off, they are looking for other places to process their recyclables.”...

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Ken Notes: I worked on recycling legislation for the state and I promise this is a much larger issue that anyone wants to admit. The key word in the above paragraph is almost. In the best of systems recycling is a losing proposition financially. We can tip the scales by working with other countries, processing materials stateside, focusing on the most recyclable items, regional approaches, and considering a packaging tax. Not easy. Not popular. Not fixable in a sound bite or a tweet...