As China struggles for recycling, will America become cleaner?

In recent years, the US recycling model has been to send overseas to China. China gets a raw material that is worth the money; the United States is getting rid of its waste.

But since the beginning of the year, China refuses to recycle contaminated products, forcing communities across the United States, such as Lynn, Massachusetts, to take swift action

– refuses just some items and asks for extremely clean recyclable materials for the rest (0.5% contamination).

That's why Julia Greene, recycling coordinator for the city of Lynn, spends her summer searching in recycling bins.

She shoots through the trash of Lynn, resident of Lynn. It is filled with plastic bottles – a good thing, except for one problem: the bottles are filled with liquid.

Greene explains why this is a problem. The liquid can run on perfectly fine recyclable materials and destroy them.

"I'll have to talk to my niece about it," says Thomas, explaining why some plastics are still full.

The trash has also used paper towels – which, although they are paper, are not recyclable. They are covered with food that can contaminate more of the other products in the trash. "It's my grandson," says Thomas.

Greene says that most residents, like Thomas, have good intentions but simply do not know some of the rules of recycling.

Later, Greene expands his explanation of the problem with bottles filled with liquid. "When you put these balls in these balls and they stay there for weeks and months, as they are going to be turned into other materials, you have all kinds of mold problems, and so on. That's why we want to clean them as best as possible.

The Americans are going to have to clean up their garbage cans as best they can, in a hurry.

Lynn City audited its recycling program in April – the bins had a 26 percent contamination, of which 3 percent

"That means people are throwing televisions out there their computers. "It's a nightmare," says Greene. "When we saw this on the report, we said:" Wow, we have a huge problem. ""

In Lynn, when there is no one to teach Recycling 101, Greene puts a label on the cart that explains the basics of how to recycle better. (Labels are, of course, also recyclable.)

"So why was it marked? … he would say – a lot of "yuck" in, "says Greene, putting a label on a trash can." There are styrofoam cups and food on the towels and sacks. "[19659002] To be clear, Lynn does not send recycling with 26% contamination directly to China.A truck first delivers the recyclables from the bin to a local sorter called a materials recovery facility, or MRF.

"From there, different equipment and people sort the waste," says Cody Marshall of The Recycling Partnership, an organization that works with cities across the country to help clean up their recycling. developed labels to put on green bins and helps municipalities educate people to recycle smarter.

Still, it's a lot easier for the sorter to reach 0.5% contamination if the bins are over clean in the first place.

But let's stop picking Lynn. Marshall says communities across the country typically produce levels of contamination between 10 and 20 percent. And we're not just talking about greasy pizza boxes. Marshall says people routinely throw wood, propane tanks and hoses into their garbage cans, thinking that items must be recyclable.

"They think it's plastic," says Marshall citing examples. 19659002] It is hoped that these large items will be disposed of in an MRF before being sent abroad. Yet they can erase the machines, losing the time and money sorters – additional costs that inevitably are passed on. Today, many cities that were once paid for recycling now pay for recycling facilities to recover it.

Those in the recycling industry complain that China has set the bar too high with an impossible level of purity. But there is also another answer.

"It was a warning shot, no question," says Brooke Nash, of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

"It's an opportunity for us to re-educate people and get back to basics, and let's face it, recycling is confusing," says Nash. "What we get at the grocery store, our packaging is constantly changing; Packaging innovations make it even more confusing. Is it recyclable or not? Twenty years ago, eggs arrived in paper cartons. That was it. Now you can buy eggs in Styrofoam cartons, you can buy them in clear plastic cartons. Well, what are you doing with these things? "

Most throw it into the recycling bin and hope it's recyclable.In the industry, they call it" wish-cycling. "Adding to the confusion, cities have sometimes different rules for what can and can not be recycled.

So, between varying standards, ever-changing packaging, our bad habits and the repression of China, where does this leave us? India and the Southeast Asian countries are taking over, but Nash says they also follow the example of China.

"Nobody wants to be the recipient of materials containing 20% ​​of waste. So we're going to see a domino effect that markets around the world are going to require a cleaner product, "says Nash.

And giving up recycling is not an option. In Massachusetts and other states, it is also illegal to put bottles and cans in landfills. Recycling is not just good for the planet, it's good for the economy: Recycling in the United States generates more than $ 100 billion in economic activity each year. Imagine what it could be worth if it was really clean.