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Elizabeth Dinan [email protected] @DinanElizabeth
A resident of Portsmouth walked past a large red sign, warning not to throw plastic bags into the municipal bin, and then started to throw recyclable materials in with plastic bags.
Alan Case and Tom Rosenwald, Public Works employees explaining the plastic bags can not be thrown into the recycling mix and pointed to a nearby barrel filled with plastic bags previously rescued from other residents. It's a re-enacted scene across the Seacoast, the nation and the world, while China, the world's largest recyclable buyer, hardens the standards for recyclables that it will buy
. , the cost of Portsmouth's "tipping" recyclable materials has doubled, meaning that it now costs more to recycle recyclable materials than to move waste to a landfill. The global dilemma was brought to Portsmouth residents' mailboxes last week when a flyer was included with their monthly water and sewer bills and entitled "Help Our Recycling Process."
"The US recycling industry is experiencing high levels of contamination that ends up recycling," residents said. "Quality requirements (clean recycling) are increasing because of new policies in China that prohibit many categories of materials and provide for strict quality standards. China has recently limited the amount of materials it has accepts for recycling and added specific contamination limits. According to Levenson, Portsmouth paid $ 30 per tonne for the recyclable waste to be collected by Waste Management of Mbadachusetts, which is about half of the spill cost. for the waste to be collected. The cost of recycling garbage at a Mbadachusetts landfill is $ 63 per tonne, while recyclables are higher.
Portsmouth employees collect recycling materials, while Waste Management recycles at its Billerica plant. To help with its program, Portsmouth is now encouraging residents to be more aware of what is happening in their recycling bins and to avoid what is known as "wish-cyling", by putting non-recyclable items in their homes. trash cans, hoping that they could be recycled. According to the city, food-contaminated paper should be composted and not recycled.
Waste Management reports on its website that the average rate of contamination of materials collected through its curbside recycling programs has increased to approximately 25%
means that 500 pounds of every 2,000 pounds we collect at the curb is ultimately rejected as non-recyclable, "according to the recycler. "This increases the cost of recycling by increasing the cost of sorting materials, transport and waste disposal, and also includes the lost value of recyclable vouchers that are ruined because of contamination."
Levenson says that the city collects weekly recyclable materials, 1,000 households each day. He said the city only serves homes with four or fewer units and that all major corporations, including commercial entities, are responsible for their own recycling programs and their costs. "To be honest, the residents of Portsmouth are excellent recyclers". ] Evidence was found in a study conducted in 2016 by a trainee from the University of New Hampshire who examined recyclables left on the city's curbs and determined that 95.8% of the materials were "properly separated and recycled by our residents. " According to Levenson, the biggest recycling problem for local communities is the recycling of their recyclables into plastic bags or plastic bags in their recycling bins
. be returned to the original stores for recycling. For residents who bring their recycling to the 680 Peverly Hill Road Recycling Center, the big red sign offers the warning and the barrel is there for collection. Food waste and food waste can be left in one place.
In a bulletin published in May for the benefit of its municipal customers, Waste Management said that China should eliminate imports of all recyclables by 2021. "Steps to go down this path. The recycler said it has seen a 50 percent reduction in recycling values over the last few months as its processing costs have increased.
"Every community and every recycler is affected," Waste Management reported. "Alternative markets – domestic and export – require high quality recyclable materials with little or no contamination. Waste management focuses on reducing contamination to help move materials to end markets. With continued market volatility, we all need to work together. "19659003] Levenson said that tipping costs for recyclables changed every month," depending on the market. "
" We Can not Control the International Market " he said, "But we want to do the right thing, we will proceed cautiously."
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