Recycling, for decades an almost
reflexive effort by American households and businesses to reduce waste
and help the environment, is collapsing in many parts of the country.
Philadelphia is now burning about half
of its 1.5 million residents’ recycling material in an incinerator that
converts waste to energy. In Memphis, the international airport still
has recycling bins around the terminals, but every collected can, bottle
and newspaper is sent to a landfill. And last month, officials in the
central Florida city of Deltona faced the reality that, despite their
best efforts to recycle, their curbside program was not working and
suspended it.
Those are just three of the hundreds of
towns and cities across the country that have canceled recycling
programs, limited the types of material they accepted or agreed to huge
price increases.
“We are in a crisis moment in the
recycling movement right now,” said Fiona Ma, the treasurer of
California, where recycling costs have increased in some cities.
www.nytimes.com/2019/03/16/business/local-recycling-costs.htmlChina is laying down the law on their end and saying we’re not going to take recycling that’s contaminated.”
This means recycling “that has plastic bags or food waste in it — anything other than the actual product that’s being recycled.” A large amount of plastic products are being rejected because they have not been washed properly by people throwing them out.
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