Too many Americans are treating the recycle bin like a trash can and China won't take it anymore. China's inspectors are sending boatloads of contaminated recyclables back to the U.S. The rejected recycling is affecting the way we recycle in Sacramento.
"If they are buying paper, they want true paper. If they are buying plastic, they want true plastic. They don't want that high contaminant." says Angel Diaz, Waste Management manager in Sacramento.
China is the biggest buyer of U.S. recyclables and at the beginning of the year they put their foot down. Chinese inspectors are now rejecting any shipment that has more than a half-percent of contaminants. That includes greasy pizza boxes, chemical filled plastics, and dippers.
"It's very costly to have a recycle container shipped back to the U.S.,” said Diaz.
The cost of contaminated recyclables could be passed onto the garbage producers. Sacramento County Waste Management and Recycling Manager, Doug Kobold, says the cost of recycling is rising.
"The change that we have seen so far is about $1.64 per household, per month. We have been able to absorb that right now, but at some point, we will not be able to absorb that and we will have to seek an increase in rates.
"Co-mingle recycling is here to stay, but the city and county of Sacramento are trying to reduce the amount of waste in residential recycling bins. One way of doing that is by urging residents to clean their recyclables, and educate people what is actually recyclable. "What we want to do is see our residents... and I am sure the city is the same way... we want to see them get down to a 10 percent of contaminants," said Kobold.
Plastics have identification numbers on them. The classification is #1 to #7. Since the beginning of the year, Waste Management started sending only #1 and #2 plastics to China. They are the most common and desirable to China.
The other five types of plastics are sorted. Some are sent to other countries, but a majority of those plastic end up in the landfill. Other countries that process recyclables have followed in China’s footsteps. It seems those countries also want the U.S. to clean up its recyclables.