Lunch at Garfield Elementary School in Corvallis was unsurprisingly chaotic Friday, with dozens of kids picking up hot lunches, eating and talking.

But in the center of the room was an island of order as a small team of students and an adult volunteer helped kids sort their compostable items and trash into the appropriate bins. The composting program, which was started in 2015, has significantly reduced the amount of trash the school produces during lunch.

Last year, China cracked down on recycling imports, forcing cities to get cleaner and more creative with their trash. So where does the market stand? Is recycling on the rocks, or poised to go bigger? How have cities addressed the constriction of the China market, and what have they done to improve the quality and frequency of their recycling programs?

Solutions to preserve access and reduce contamination are emerging from municipalities, partners and citizen-led efforts in states such as Oregon, Virginia and New Hampshire.

Hardships caused by China's global recycling industry disruptions have been particularly acute in small U.S. cities and towns over the past year. But in the face of adversity, a number of them have devised solutions to keep recycling programs alive — at least to some degree.

A six-month glass collection pilot project coordinated by Recycle Colorado will increase the collection of glass bottles in downtown Denver. The project provides 96-gallon recycling carts to participating businesses arranges for glass collection services through May 2019. Businesses can participate for free.

CONTINUE READING AT WASTE ADVANTAGE

Over 32,000 used milk cartons were thrown away each year at Silverton Middle School, the equivalent of 25 cubic yards of trash.

At Scotts Mills School, about 477 gallons of milk were poured down the drain each year.

By replacing milk cartons with milk dispensers and washable cups, the schools in the Silverton School District produce a fraction of the trash they once did. 

With a $76,000 grant, Marion County will roll out similar waste reduction programs at schools throughout the county over the next two years

Phoenix has plans to upgrade equipment at one of its recycling facilities to adapt to market changes, and hopefully get more recyclables back out of the landfill. “Most of the United States and Europe over the last 30 years have developed a recycling system based on the fact that China has been the country that has bought most of these recyclables,” said Joe Giudice, assistant Public Works director for Phoenix. “The market shifted when they changed policy, so we are all in a position where we are responding to the new market signals.”

At face value, the business model for a materials recovery facility is simple.

MRFs take in commingled recyclables, separate them, and then sell the sorted materials to buyers who process and transform them into new products. The new products are sold to consumers, and the process begins again.

From the CARTM Newsletter

As many of you know, CARTM lost its contract to operate the transfer station, effective December 31, with only 16 days notice. We spent those 16 days selling, then giving away all the donated merchandise before the facility closed.

The People’s Republic of China has announced that eight types of scrap metal will move from its “Catalogue of Solid Waste Not Restricted to Import as Raw Materials” list to its “Catalogue of Solid Waste Restricted to Import as Raw Materials” list. According to a news release from the Brussels-based Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), the items will be moved to the restricted list beginning July 1, 2019.

The good news is, our collective efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost have made San Francisco the most successful big city in America at reducing what goes to landfill.