[OKRA] Press Release from the NRC regarding China's Embargo on the Import of Recycled Materials

[Ellen Bussert]

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*











*Contact*:  Marjorie Griek, Executive Director,

                  National Recycling Coalition (NRC)

*Phone*:     720/745-0966

*Email*:       marjie at nrcrecycles.org





*The China Crisis – Whose Crisis is It?*

*WASHINGTON DC, May 15, 2018 -- It is ours*.  Recycled materials and trash
should look very different from each other, but for years they have been
converging in the U.S.  China has not been the creator of today’s crisis in
the industry – U.S. mills have been complaining for years – but China’s
recent embargo of U.S. recycling imports is shining a mirror on our
recycling industry and providing a clear signal that we can no longer
pretend diversion of waste into a recycling bin is recycling.

MRFs (Material Recovery Facilities) can produce quality materials out of
both single stream and dual stream inputs, but not when 20+% of the input
“recyclable” stream, in some cases, are not recyclables.  The plants are
not built to handle those specs, and slower, cleaner processing has not
historically been rewarded with higher market prices.  Now fast, dirty
recycling is being punished with no markets.  Rightly so.  Clean material
is a resource; dirty is not.  Clean recyclables have been the minority for
years.

The good news and bad news is that customer enthusiasm for recycling is
strong.  The public wants to recycle, but they express that enthusiasm
by *recycling
materials that are not eligible*.  A combination of “wishful recycling” and
insufficient enforcement of quality is proving very damaging to the
industry – abysmal and volatile markets, a dirty product that is not a
reliable “commodity”, closed plants, and programs that are hurting
economically.

The National Recycling Coalition, along with other major industry
associations, is working aggressively in a new nationwide collaborative, to
develop strategies to resolve some of these fundamental industry and market
issues.

In the meantime, the National Recycling Coalition notes that it is
important to *remind your residential customers now that they should ONLY
recycle the items on their LOCAL recyclables list. This is important for
U.S. users of recycled materials, and the current China embargo makes this
an opportune time for this reminder*.  When in Doubt – throw it in the
*trash*!

We cannot continue to act and behave as if business as usual will offer a
solution to today’s issues. We must fundamentally shift how we speak to the
public, how we collect and process our recyclables, and what our end
markets accept and utilize to truly recycle.  The NRC is working through
collaboratives, its series of Market Development Workshops, and Quarterly
Market Calls to take steps to turn recycling into an industry with a
quality product, but we all need to work together to meet the challenge.  It
seems about time – or so the world is telling us.

###

*If you would like more information about this topic, or NRC’s Series of
Recycling Markets Development Workshops, or NRC’s Quarterly Market Calls,
please call Marjorie Griek at 720/745-0966 or email *
*marjie at nrcrecycles.org* <marjie at nrcrecycles.org>*.  *
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