States Look for New Ways to Recycle Your Plastic and Paper

After China stopped taking certain recyclables, states work to create a long-term, domestic solution

By Jennifer Calfas of The WSJ.

"Two years ago, China turned the American recycling industry on its head when it stopped accepting millions of tons of its scrap materials."

"In 2017, the U.S. exported about 14.5 million metric tons of scrap recyclables to China, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, an industry trade group. That dropped to around 9.4 million metric tons in 2018. Since China implemented its new policy at the start of 2018, U.S. states and cities have felt the brunt of falling prices on certain recyclables. The average price for mixed paper in the U.S., for example, dropped from $67 in August 2017 to negative $2 in August 2019."

"municipalities have sent some recyclables to landfills and stopped accepting certain kinds of plastic or incinerated items."

"Maine could soon require package producers to support recycling programs and cover at least 80% of the cost of packaging materials sold in the state that aren’t easily recyclable."