Page 11 - Green Builder July-August 2019 Issue

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It’s All Garbage Now

Recycling becomes less ‘right thing to do’ and more ‘what to do?’ for U.S. cities.

SIA’S GROWING DISINTEREST in Mitch Hedlund, executive director of
American recycled materials is nonprofit Recycle Across America, notes
forcing many communities to cur- that public participation in the high-cost
A tail or discontinue their reusable recycling programs has been so success-
waste collection and processing programs, ful that even handling all of a city’s trash
because they are too expensive. This, in turn, processing doesn’t make life profitable for
is giving subcontractors such as roofers, the waste management industry—which
builders and plumbers—and homeowners— leads to recyclers or cities giving up on
a headache as they try to find somewhere the idea.
other than the landfill to send discards such In response, cities, builders and others
as scrap wood, nails and plastic wrap. CREDIT: EVA CRISTESCUžFLICKR are taking less-than-sustainable steps to
According to a report in the New York handle their reusables. Philadelphia burns it
Times, China’s 2018 decision to stop buying instead of sending it to the landfill. Chicago
U.S. recyclables because of the excessive Trash talk. It’s not as easy for cities to handle their has a new “grossly contaminated” classifica-
garbage they contained is a key reason many recyclable waste—which is forcing them to find other, tion for recyclables that contain even one
recycling companies have fewer buyers, driv- not-so-eco-friendly ways of processing it. non-recyclable item—sending the whole
ing up their costs. Some of those recyclers have responded by raising prices batch to the landfill. Flagstaff, Ariz., pretty much only accepts specific bottles,
by up to 400 percent on their No. 1 customers: U.S. cities. This leaves many jugs and jars. Memphis has all but dropped recycling services altogether, but
municipalities with an unpleasant choice of raising taxes, cutting city services still leaves bins in place to “preserve the culture” until mainstream recycling
or abandoning recycling altogether. returns, the Times reports.

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6-9 GB 0719 News.indd 9 7/17/19 9:28 AM