2018_08-28_PWETCpacket - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Industry leaders say residents can help by ensuring what they toss is actually recyclable, rather than "wish cycling" something that is not, contaminating loads and costing recyclens money. That's grown mote problematic in recent years as the switch to single, sort recycling and pressure on haulers to apt mote materials —including some with no viable rause markets —has raised contamination rates. T see education being one of the things that's going to greatly help us out with single stream," Keegan said.'They're putting baby diapers, they're putting garden hoses, they're putting electronics [in the bin]. You can't put those in there," Getting recycling right is also a growing challenge as packaging grows more complex. Granola and other products come in plastic pouches, which get mistaken for paper in the sorting process. An increasingly common message, included on the Republic Services flier, is 'When in doubt, throw it out„ "Recycling is part of how we address some of the impacts of consumption, but we really need to start looking at reduction," said Davenport of Eureka, a nonprofit company. T think this is an example of where recycling is not going to fully solve our consumption of plastics and paper and all those kinds of things." About 7 percent of the waste Eureka receives is "residual," meaning it cannot be recycled. That is better than many parts of the country, though Davenport said it has risen from less than 1 percent before implementation of single -sort and the switch from bins to larger carts. To ensure it has a clean product to sell, Dem -Con has slowed down its sorting facility, added staff, and will be spending $2 million this fall to upgrade paper -sorting equipment. T dont think this is doomsday. I don't think what China is doing is bad," Keegan said. "The recycling industry has to adapt. I think we need to make cleaner product. That's going to cost money. And I think that cost is borne by —and must be borne by—the generator. the consumer." 'Seems to find away' China once happily accepted dirty loads of America's mixed paper, commingled plastics and other recyclables. But since 2012 the country has tightened its standards for acceptable contamination in recycling shipments. Adam Minter, a Minnesota native and authority on waste whose 2013 book'7unkyard Planet" chronicled the worldwide recycling market, cited a number of reasons for the Chinese shift, including environmental concerns, less use of minced recyclables in manufacturing, favoritism toward state-owned companies and the public relations benefits of rejecting foreign trash. The short -tem impacts are likely to be higher rates for residents, he said. Minter expects entrepreneurs will eventually build facilities in America that help turn the recycled materials into new products. "The recycling world always seems to find a way through this," Minter said, highlighting the announrarnam last month Ods•✓/www.midlandpgnacom/grean_bMM announces-new-500-million-facili4yQ of a new $500 million mixed paper recycling plant opening in Green Bay, Wis. Governments in other states firms•✓/www.waslydivacom/news/what-Chinese-impg�r - ooEcies-mean-for-all-50-states/510751/y . like Oregon, Massachusetts and Washington, have granted recyclers permission to landfill or burn materials in response to the China restrictions. Minnesota ]a firms•✓/www.revisormn acv/statutes/citel115A95y bars landfills and incinerators from accepting recyclables unless "the [MPCA] commissioner determines that no other person is willing to apt the recyclable materials." "One of the questions people have been asking is, The law doesn'tsay anything about if the market is more expensive,"' said Mark Rust, supervisor of the MPCA's Sustainable Materials Management Unit. He said the agency has been talking with industry leaders about other options, such as stockpiling materials, that state officials would want to discuss before granting an exemption to the law. eric.nipatstartribunemm 6123733732 6tribgo0er