View this post on Instagram "Recycling as we know it isn't working." ⠀ Prices for scrap paper and plastic have collapsed, leading local officials across the U.S. to charge residents more to collect recyclables and send some to landfills. Used newspapers, cardboard boxes and plastic bottles are piling up at plants that can't make a profit processing them for export or domestic markets.⠀ ⠀ U.S. recycling programs took off in the 1990s as calls to bury less trash in landfills coincided with China's demand for materials such as corrugated cardboard to feed its economic boom.⠀ ⠀ China early this month suspended all imports of U.S. recycled materials until June 4. The recycling industry interpreted the move as part of the growing rift between the U.S. and China over trade policies and tariffs.⠀ ⠀ The upended economics are likely to permanently change the U.S. recycling business at places like Cal-Waste Recovery Systems near Sacramento, Calif., pictured above. ⠀ ⠀ Read more at the link in our bio. ⠀ ⠀ 📷: @maxwhittaker⠀ A post shared by The Wall Street Journal (@wsj) on May 21, 2018 at 2:04pm PDT
