California's recycling industry has struggled since China banned imports of plastics and other material. Experts say changes are vital to overcome a waste glut.
“The Chinese ban and everything else in the last couple of years made us realize we are living in a pretend world of ‘wishcycling,’” said Roland Geyer, an industrial ecology professor at UC Santa Barbara, “What we’ve tried hasn’t worked.”
“It’s had a significant impact,” said Navnit Padival, senior engineer at the Los Angeles County Sanitation District. “The United States and the world over have been affected by China’s ban.” About a decade back, the Burbank Recycling Center earned roughly $50,000 a month on recycled materials. In the past year, the value of recycled goods plunged so low they were paying as much as $40,000 a month to outlets overseas just to get rid of it. It’s gotten so expensive that the center is resorting to the landfill.
While the industry stalls, residents and businesses are consuming and generating more waste than ever. In 2014, Los Angeles County generated approximately 22 million tons of waste. By 2018, that number had climbed to 30 million tons.Even during the days when China absorbed the bulk of American recyclables, much of what they purchased wasn’t actually recycled.
The environmental cost comes in the form of methane gasses emitted by landfills, and the plastics and waste that end up in waterways, oceans and wildlands, negatively impacting fish and wildlife. Still, researchers and environmental advocates emphasize that simple changes to our recycling habits won’t be enough. The recycling industry itself leaves a footprint resulting from its industrial processes, and even at its most efficient doesn’t outweigh the waste produced.
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