Recycling

About a quarter of respondents (26%) in a recent survey of 2,000 adults by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) feel recycling is more difficult than assembling IKEA furniture. Another 23% find recycling more complicated than completing a tax return, and 22% find it more complex than the stock market.

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Plastic garbage from Trader Joe's and an AARP card are peeking out of hillocks of plastic trash piling up in Indonesia.

It's a sign of a new global quandary: What should wealthy countries do with their plastic waste now that China no longer is buying it?

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Metro Council voted to approve a plan that will shape the way greater Portland manages the garbage and recycling system for the next 12 years – including everything from the way products are made to how to shape jobs in the industry.

The 2030 Regional Waste Plan is the fourth such plan that Metro has crafted — a process it goes through roughly once a decade. 

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“Residential recycling is broken” was a common refrain noted from all the speakers of the plenary session at the Southeast Recycling Conference (SERC), which took place Feb. 24-26 in Orlando, Florida. Three industry leaders opened up the conference during its plenary session, including Chaz Miller, president of Miller & Associates, Bill Caesar, chief executive officer at Houston-based Waste Corporate of America (WCA) and Amy Boyson, community affairs manager at Waste Management.

City officials in Tacoma, Washington, have announced several proposals to change its recycling program. The city currently offers curbside recycling service to residents, multifamily tenants and commercial customers.

However, the city reports in a news release that “the majority of Tacoma’s recyclables are sold overseas, mainly in Asia, where countries have adopted strict policies regarding material quality. Materials that do not meet the requirements are rejected.”

The Recycling Partnership has a lot of great resources to help promote your recycling programs, and get information out to your communities. 

Even better, they moderate a closed Facebook group specifically for waste diversion and recycling professionals to help share resources and ideas amongst your peers. Check out their tools below!

From The Recycling Partnership:

Looking for grab and go resources for your social media pages? We’ve got ‘em.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Washington, has announced the expansion of its Beyond 34: Recycling and Recovery for a New Economy initiative. The expansion includes applying the Beyond 34 model in a second region and developing a suite of online tools to allow any community to implement the model.

One of the Electronic Reusing Association’s (ERA) prime missions is to help other immigrants and charities needing technology. ERA focuses on reusing and refurbishing laptops, computers, monitors, servers, printers, cell phones and many other electronic devices. As a non-profit, they strongly believe in tackling the growing problem of e-waste. In a short time, they have become industry leaders in data destruction and securely repurposing hundreds of tons of equipment.

Currency fluctuations, international political uncertainties and now tariffs that are hitting recycling businesses and consumers hard. A WPI engineering professor said the tariffs could turn out to be good for the recycling industry, if they are seen as a wake-up call.

As of March 1, Southbridge Massachusetts recycling bins with contents that are more than 15 percent non-recyclable materials won’t be emptied during their scheduled pickup every other week, interim recycling coordinator Anna Smith said. Letters notifying residents and property owners of the plan went out this week. Inspectors also put stickers on offending residents’ bins.