The recession caused by COVID is forcing governments to cut back on services. These cuts are happening to schools, parks, and other essential services, but there is another area that we can look … recycling.
Recycling programs became popular 30 years ago and they were seen as a win-win for taxpayers: a way to save the environment and for their government to earn money from selling the recyclables.
Historically governments would sell their recyclables to contractors overseas, particularly to China where their cheap labour made the costly, labour-intensive recycling industry profitable. But in 2018 China enacted a new law called “National Sword” that substantially decreased the number of import licenses for waste products. Other Asian countries that accepted recyclables soon followed suit. Between March 2017 and March 2018 the price of mixed paper dropped from $160 per ton to $3.
Since January 2018 most governments have been trying to get rid of their recyclables but that is often very expensive, so most ends up getting sent to the landfill. This is not new, China, frustrated with contaminated recycling, would often send it to their landfills. Many people think that pizza boxes are easily recyclable, but the grease on them affects their quality, as does any plastic sticker affixed to the top.
Perhaps it is time to re-think recycling. Most of the environmental advantages of recycling are limited to recycling metals, cardboard, and certain kinds of paper. Other products, such as plastics, textiles, and glass, may actually increase our carbon footprint.
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