Readers,
Every two weeks in the city of Toledo, Ohio a truck comes by to pick up recycling. For some, two weeks is too long, and some of the materials that would have otherwise been recycled end up in the trash container, which is picked up weekly. Some weeks, though, people may have more garbage than recyclables, and so some of the non-recyclable items finds its way into the recycling bin.
Don’t judge those that do this – many do. Garbage in recycling bins is actually turning into a real problem for single stream recyclers. This, along with other issues, is causing hardships for many recyclers.
Once profitable municipal recycling programs are now costing some local governments money instead of paying dividends. Sources estimate that over 2,000 municipalities are now paying to dispose of residents’ recyclables. The slump in recycled materials sales has been part of the decision to shutter a number of Waste Management’s large recycling facilities and if it doesn’t reverse soon, may lead to additional closures.
Part of the problem has been the push to expand the access to and convenience of recycling. By providing households with ever larger bins with no sorting requirements, recyclers have invited contamination. The challenges associated with weeding out the rubbish from the good stuff has caused recyclers’ costs to rise, and left them less able to compete with the price of virgin materials – especially in light of low oil prices.
Additionally, the makeup of the single-stream material mix is constantly evolving. As manufacturers work to use less and lighter materials, recyclers have to process more and more recyclables to squeeze out the same amount of sellable end product.
So the bad news is that the recycling market isn’t great at the moment. The good news is that recycling isn’t going away anytime soon. Between legislative initiatives, conscientious consumers, and ever scarcer virgin resources, recycling isn’t done for just yet.
Once the current slump is over, I suspect that those who’ve survived will be poised for some pretty incredible growth.
Until next month,
Esther Fournier
Publisher & Editor
American Recycler News
Published in the July 2015 Edition of American Recycler News
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