Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumThink your plastic is being recycled? Think again. (link added)
X post in GD
attribution: Michal Maňas
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/18/1239747/-Think-your-plastic-is-being-recycled-Think-again?detail=email
Think those plastic items you carefully separate from the rest of your trash are being responsibly recycled? Think again. U.S. recycling companies have largely stayed away from recycling plastic and most of it has been shipped to China where it can be processed cheaper. Not anymore. This year China announced a Green Fence Policy, prohibiting much of the plastic recycling they once imported:
For many environmentally conscious Americans, theres a deep satisfaction to chucking anything and everything plasticky into the recycling binfrom shampoo bottles to butter tubsthe types of plastics in the plastic categories #3 through #7. Little do they know that, even if their local trash collector says it recycles that waste, they might as well be chucking those plastics in the trash bin.
[Plastics] 3-7 are absolutely going to a landfill[China's] not taking that any more because of Green Fence, David Kaplan, CEO of Maine Plastics, a post-industrial recycler, tells Quartz. This will continue until we can do it in the United States economically.
U.S. recyclers are scrambling to come up with a solution now that China is drastically cutting back on their top import from the U.S.:
China's demand for low-cost recycled raw materials has meant waste shipments from Europe, the US, Japan and Hong Kong have arrived thick and fast, with scrap becoming the top US export to China by value ($11.3bn) in 2011.
FULL story at link.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 1132 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (14)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Think your plastic is being recycled? Think again. (link added) (Original Post)
Omaha Steve
Feb 2015
OP
ret5hd
(20,522 posts)1. Our landfills will be the mines of the future.
GreenPartyVoter
(72,381 posts)3. I have often thought that.
arikara
(5,562 posts)2. Michael Moore talked about how they don't recycle plastics a couple years ago
I stopped over cleaning all those containers because the water you use to wash out a plastic peanut butter bottle is worth more than the jar, even if it could be recycled. If it takes too much water I toss it although I try not to buy much disposable stuff in the first place.