China Ban Could Force Americans to Clean Up

Since the start of this year, China has been refusing to take in contaminated recycling, forcing communities across the U.S. to act quickly.

China’s new anti-pollution campaign refuses some items outright and demands extremely clean recyclables for the rest. That means, Americans are going to have to clean up their bins as best as possible.

Organizations, like The Recycling Partnership, are working with cities across the nation to educate residents on how to recycle better—and cleaner.

PRI’s The World has more:

In recent years, the model for US recycling has been to send it overseas to China. China gets a raw material worth money; the US gets rid of its rubbish.

But since the start of this year, China has been refusing to take contaminated recycling, forcing communities across the US, like Lynn, Massachusetts, to quickly take action.

China’s new anti-pollution campaign — dubbed the National Sword — refuses some items outright and demands extremely clean recyclables for the rest (0.5 percent contamination).

Read the full article here.