Broken yes but we can fix it!!!

During the week we dutifully put items into their recycling bins, and on Wednesday or Sunday we bring it to the transfer station where much of it does not actually end up being recycled. This does not mean you should stop sorting and bringing recycling to the transfer station it just means that recycling in the US is not working up to its potential...here are some reasons why and what we can do about it.

The number one reason many plastics are not recycled and instead end up being incinerated, deposited in landfills or end up washed into out oceans is contamination. Many recyclables like plastic become contaminated when items are placed in the wrong bin, or when a dirty food container gets into the recycling bin. Contamination can prevent large batches of material from being recycled. 

Many items that you think would be recyclable because well they are made of plastic, (plastic straws and bags, eating utensils, yogurt and takeout containers for example) often cannot be recycled or the company working with the transfer station does not have the capabilities to recycle them.  

This was not so much a concern when we just shipped out our plastics to China, but that is no longer an option and to be honest what we are doing now, well I personally think it is shameful.

    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. The U.S. then sent its plastic waste to     other countries, shipping 68,000 containers to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand in 2018. When     these countries later instituted bans on imported plastic waste, the U.S. diverted its waste to        Cambodia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Laos, Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal — countries with cheap         labor and lax environmental rules. The U.S. still ships over 1 million metric tons a year of             plastic waste abroad, often to countries already overwhelmed by it. Experts estimate that 20 to     70 percent of plastic intended for recycling overseas is unusable and is ultimately discarded.        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.    Cho, Renee. Recycling in the U.S. is Broken.  How do we fix it? March 13, 2020

The waste we make must be dealt with here, by the people who made the choice in the first place to buy the item.  It is not the job of developing countries with nonexistent environmental rules and corrupt governments to clean up our waste.  As my mom always told us growing up "Own your Sh@t" (well she didn't say the S word as she is a proper British lady...I am paraphrasing what she said : )  The problem is in the US there is not a market at this time for plastics and even some other items such as cardboard and glass.

“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. “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.” https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2020/03/13/fix-recycling-america/

As a result you are seeing the price of collecting and transporting recyclables exceeding what can be made for the municipalities. We were so dependent on China our infrastructure was never a focus in the US.  The need for these technologies were not necessary when we could easily sell our trash to China.  Without investment in infrastructure and new technologies we will continue to see the price rising to stop these items from entering the waste stream or worse expense will win out and we will revert back to taking what we recycled and putting it back into landfills and incinerators.  If I was a young person just deciding a career path I would be focusing on creating opportunities to use recycled materials.  We need our best and brightest to take up the challenge of creating the infrastructure and profit for municipalities to recycle.

   According to the EPA, of the 267.8 million tons of municipal solid waste generated by                   Americans in 2017, only 94.2 million tons were recycled or composted. Paper for                 recycling. Sixty-six percent of discarded paper and cardboard was recycled, 27 percent of glass,  and 8 percent of plastics were recycled. Glass and metal can be recycled indefinitely; paper         can be recycled five to seven times before it’s too degraded to be made into “new” paper;             plastic can only be recycled once or twice—and usually not into a food container—since the         polymers break down in the recycling process.

New technologies are coming. 

Until that happens what can we do now other than continue to recycle? 

Well we can do start off by first refusing, reducing, and re purposing. 

The first step in recycling isn't recycling...it is really to be a more informed consumer and use your money as power.  Don't buy things that do not come in truly recyclable packages.  Cut back on things and choose more adventures to bring joy to your life.  Reuse things by getting them fixed...I know the most amazing guy (Shout out to Rich S) who has kept all of our electrical and gas powered tools going since we moved to Goshen.  I don't buy anything new if I can fix it and if I can't I am on Marketplace and or craigslist looking for an item that still has some life in it to save it from the demolition container!  Truth is most of the new things today are kinda crappy...IKEA, TARGET, WALMART you name it the craftsmanship isn't there and the materials used are shoddy.  Give me old over new any day...it may take some elbow grease but making what is old new again is far cheaper and better for the environment in the long run. 

So the less stuff we buy (especially packaged stuff) the better...less entering into the recycling stream. 

A final point to make here.  This post contains facts but it also is based on my opinion.  I am a fervent believer in recycling and the power it holds to make our environment cleaner but also open up new ways for our country to create jobs and increase wealth across the board.  So please continue to bring me your recycling...I would miss each and every one of you if you decided to just throw it all away : )

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