China’s Recycling Crackdown Continues to Impact U.S. Waste Companies
Haulers and governments work to adjust to China's mandates on some kinds of recyclables.
China’s crackdowns on imported recyclables are quickly driving changes in how some U.S. waste companies and municipal solid waste departments operate.
The West Coast has been hardest hit by new policies, including a drastically cut accepted contamination level, suspension of mills’ import licenses and a ban some materials.
In California, 24 percent of exported freight is recyclables alone, most of which has historically gone to China. Haulers in Oregon and Washington are now asking for permission to landfill materials that previously had been diverted. Municipal governments in Lane County, Ore., and Madison, Wis. no longer accept plastics they used to collect. Meanwhile, both Oregon’s and Washington’s environmental agencies are addressing emerging changes on their websites.
Of the 24 materials on China’s list, only mixed paper and plastics are common in curbside collections, though they’ve gone to China in massive volumes.
Still, “China’s move to stop issuing, and to even recall, some import licenses will likely have the most dramatic effect. It’s led to bigger issues related to limited ability to get materials to China,” says Anne Germain, vice president, technical and regulatory affairs for National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA).
Though unconfirmed, she says, some licenses could be affected this month. And while the 0.3 percent contamination level is to officially be implemented at the year’s end, the squeeze has begun; China has demanded higher quality for two months.
Still, some haulers say they have able to adjust. Most of the publicly-traded companies talked of the new standards as part of reporting third quarter results.
Phoenix-based Republic Services exports 30 percent of its recyclables, but company officials say they do not anticipate significant effects.