5/30/2018 Your Recycling Gets Recycled, Right? Maybe, or Maybe Not - The New York Times
In the Pacific Northwest, Republic has diverted more than 2,000 tons of paper to landfills since the
Chinese ban came into effect, Mr. Keller said. The company has been unable to move that material
to a market “at any price or cost,’ he said. Though Republic is dumping only a small portion of its
total inventory so far — the company handles over five million tons of recyclables nationwide
each year — it sent little to no paper to landfills last year.
But for smaller companies, like Rogue Disposal and Recycling, which serves much of Oregon, the
Chinese ban has upended operations. Rogue sent all its recycling to landfills for the first few
months of the year, said Garry Penning, a spokesman.
Wigan Ang for The New York Times
Western states, which have relied the most on Chinese recycling plants, have been hit especially
hard. In some areas — like Eugene, Ore., and parts of Idaho, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii —
local officials and garbage haulers will no longer accept certain items for recycling, in some cases
refusing most plastics, glass and certain types of paper. Instead, they say, customers shouid throw
these items in the trash.
Theresa Byrne, who lives in Salem, Ore., said the city took too long to inform residents that most
plastics and egg and milk cartons were now considered garbage. “I was angry,’ she said. “T
believe in recycling.”
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