<div dir="ltr"><br><div><img src="cid:ii_l4hiiy951" alt="image.png" width="173" height="73" style="margin-right: 0px;"><br></div><div>Each one of us has this conversation with family, friends and people we just happen to meet.  Is recycling real?  How do you answer this?  This thoughtful commentary by Recycling Expert Chaz Miller may give you something to think about and ideas about how to respond next time you are asked this question. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><img src="cid:ii_l4hihw730" alt="image.png" width="259" height="83"><br></div><div><div class="gmail-indicator-brand" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:1.5625rem;color:rgb(28,107,161);font-family:"Source Sans Pro",proxima-nova,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase;width:678px;line-height:1.5"><span style="font-weight:700"><a href="https://www.waste360.com/commentary" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(254,186,7);text-decoration-line:none">COMMENTARY</a> BY cHAZ mILLER</span><div class="gmail-sponsored-brand-container gmail-dfp-ad-hideempty gmail-hidden" style="font-weight:700;box-sizing:inherit;overflow:hidden;margin:0px 0px 0px 20px;display:inline-block;vertical-align:top;width:0px;height:0px;padding:0px"><span class="gmail-sponsored-brand-text" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:0.75rem;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-weight:300"></span><div style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline-block;max-height:125px;min-height:90px;vertical-align:middle"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-big-article__head gmail-row" style="box-sizing:inherit;float:left;width:678px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Source Sans Pro",proxima-nova,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div class="gmail-heading" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline-block;margin-top:0px;opacity:0.95;padding-right:0px;width:678px;float:left"><h1 style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:2.5rem;margin:6px 0px 15px;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",jaf-bernino-sans-condensed,Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;line-height:57px">Is Recycling a Fraud?</h1></div><div class="gmail-share-icons" style="box-sizing:inherit;float:right"><a href="https://www.waste360.com/penton_modal/nojs/print/56612" class="gmail-print gmail-ctools-use-modal gmail-penton-print-popup gmail-ctools-modal-modal-popup-basic gmail-ctools-use-modal-processed" aria-label="print" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(102,102,102);text-decoration-line:none;display:inline-block;height:20px;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;text-align:center;width:20px"><span class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-print" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Font Awesome 5 Free";font-weight:900;display:inline-block;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;line-height:1;vertical-align:bottom;font-size:0.875rem"></span></a><a href="https://www.waste360.com/penton_modal/nojs/forward/56612/0" class="envelope gmail-ctools-use-modal gmail-penton-forward-popup gmail-ctools-modal-modal-popup-basic-email gmail-ctools-use-modal-processed" aria-label="envelope" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(102,102,102);text-decoration-line:none;display:inline-block;height:20px;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;text-align:center;width:20px"><span class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-envelope" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Font Awesome 5 Free";font-weight:900;display:inline-block;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;line-height:1;vertical-align:bottom;font-size:0.875rem"></span></a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.waste360.com/recycling/recycling-fraud&t=Is%20Recycling%20a%20Fraud?" class="gmail-facebook" aria-label="facebook" target="_blank" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(102,102,102);text-decoration-line:none;display:inline-block;height:20px;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;text-align:center;width:20px"><span class="gmail-fab gmail-fa-facebook" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Font Awesome 5 Brands";display:inline-block;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;line-height:1;vertical-align:bottom;font-size:0.875rem"></span></a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.waste360.com/recycling/recycling-fraud&title=Is%20Recycling%20a%20Fraud?&summary=I%20don%E2%80%99t%20know%20what%20prompted%20the%20comment,%20but%20several%20weeks%20ago%20when%20I%20was%20in%20a%20small%20museum%20in%20New%20Mexico,%20the%20museum%20staffer%20said%20to%20another%20visitor,%20%E2%80%9Cdon%E2%80%99t%20get%20me%20started%20about%20recycling,%20they%20throw%20it%20all%20away.%E2%80%9D%20I%20promptly%20disagreed%20and%20we%20had%20a%20polite%20discussion.%20But%20the%20whole%20incident%20got%20me%20to%20thinking.%20Recycling%E2%80%99s%20biggest%20problem%20isn%E2%80%99t%20cost%20or%20contamination%20or%20markets,%20it%E2%80%99s%20the%20belief%20that%20we%20are%20wasting%20our%20time%20recycling.&source=Waste360" class="gmail-linkedin" aria-label="linkedin" target="_blank" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(102,102,102);text-decoration-line:none;display:inline-block;height:20px;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;text-align:center;width:20px"><span class="gmail-fab gmail-fa-linkedin" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Font Awesome 5 Brands";display:inline-block;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;line-height:1;vertical-align:bottom;font-size:0.875rem"></span></a><a href="https://twitter.com/share?url=https://www.waste360.com/recycling/recycling-fraud&text=Is%20Recycling%20a%20Fraud?" class="gmail-twitter" aria-label="twitter" target="_blank" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(102,102,102);text-decoration-line:none;display:inline-block;height:20px;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;text-align:center;width:20px"><span class="gmail-fab gmail-fa-twitter" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Font Awesome 5 Brands";display:inline-block;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;line-height:1;vertical-align:bottom;font-size:0.875rem"></span></a><a class="gmail-pinterest" aria-label="pinterest" target="_blank" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(102,102,102);display:inline-block;height:20px;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;text-align:center;width:20px"><span class="gmail-fab gmail-fa-pinterest" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Font Awesome 5 Brands";display:inline-block;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;line-height:1;vertical-align:bottom;font-size:0.875rem"></span></a></div></div><div class="gmail-big-article__image" style="box-sizing:inherit;text-align:center;clear:both;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Source Sans Pro",proxima-nova,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><span class="gmail-text-to-image" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:0.625rem;background-color:rgba(64,71,93,0.5);color:rgb(255,255,255);line-height:22px;padding:0px 11px">Getty Images</span><img class="gmail-medium gmail-first-node-img gmail-js-imgpxr" src="https://www.waste360.com/sites/waste360.com/files/styles/article_featured_standard/public/recycle3feat_3.png?itok=GzyKTbHv" width="770" height="400" alt="plastic bottles" title="plastic bottles" style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: auto; vertical-align: middle;"></div><div style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Source Sans Pro",proxima-nova,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-field-penton-content-summary gmail-field-type-text-long gmail-field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:29px;font-weight:bold;margin-top:15px;font-size:1.25rem">Over the last few years, recycling has been subject to a barrage of bad press. First it was the bad markets caused largely by the Chinese decision to ban the imports of recyclables. Then came the stories claiming that our recyclables get tossed into landfills or are sent overseas to be dumped. That was followed by easily quotable and highly misleading statistics such as only nine percent of plastics are recycled. No wonder many people are suspicious about recycling.</div></div><p class="gmail-author-and-date" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",proxima-nova,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:24px;color:rgb(88,87,87);margin-top:5px"><span style="box-sizing:inherit"><a href="https://www.waste360.com/author/Chaz-Miller" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(63,135,8);text-decoration-line:none">Chaz Miller</a></span> | Apr 11, 2022</p></div><div><div class="gmail-article-content" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline-block;padding-right:0px;width:738px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Source Sans Pro",proxima-nova,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div class="gmail-article-banner gmail-dfp-ad-hideempty" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline-block;float:right;margin:16px auto 0px 38px;width:300px"><div style="box-sizing:inherit"><div class="gmail-dfp-tags" id="gmail-46u2bx48llo0000046u2bx48llo0000046u2bx48" style="box-sizing:inherit"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/2441/waste360.home/article/recycling_10__container__" style="box-sizing:inherit;border:0pt none"></div></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">I don’t know what prompted the comment, but several weeks ago when I was in a small museum in New Mexico, the museum staffer said to another visitor, “don’t get me started about recycling, they throw it all away.” I promptly disagreed and we had a polite discussion. But the whole incident got me to thinking. Recycling’s biggest problem isn’t cost or contamination or markets, it’s the belief that we are wasting our time recycling.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">Recycling, after all, requires more from us than trash. Garbage is easy. You put it all in a bag, put the bag in the trash can and wave goodbye when it is picked up by the garbage truck. </p><div class="gmail-dfp-ad-hideempty gmail-native_inline gmail-hidden gmail-n_hidden" style="box-sizing:inherit;overflow:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px"></div><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:0px 0px 1.5em;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">Recycling is hard. You have to separate the recyclables from the trash and put them in a separate container. Sometimes you don’t have one, you have two recycling containers and sometimes you also have a bin for food waste. Let’s face it, recycling requires us to do more. In our convenience mad society, this is a barrier. </p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">Yet, people are willing to take this extra step for a variety of reasons. Usually, they boil down to doing the right thing and saving resources. But if we believe our extra work is in vain, we will ignore our recycling bins or pay little attention to what we toss in them.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">Unfortunately, data recently released by the <a href="https://sheltongrp.com/americans-love-recycling-have-no-idea-how-it-works/?utm_campaign=SHINS%20Newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=207881965&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9giWz6poADmVrq0GNv2b0AStlE3NPAIurpbPD3WnRE6se6nFcrZavaX7MIuyIL-JuGqyUz2vOWzbTlbIdYkyi2F35Guw&utm_content=207881965&utm_source=hs_email" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(5,99,193)">Shelton Group</a> shows that while almost all of us believe recycling is good for the environment, just under half of us say recycling isn’t working well and almost a third aren’t confident that what they put in the bin gets recycled. That number has doubled since 2019.</p><div class="gmail-article-banner gmail-dfp-ad-hideempty" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline-block;float:right;margin:16px auto 0px 38px;width:300px"><div style="box-sizing:inherit"><div class="gmail-dfp-tags" id="gmail-dz7zgmxqo1u00000dz7zgmxqo1u00000dz7zgmxq" style="box-sizing:inherit"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/2441/waste360.home/article/recycling_12__container__" style="box-sizing:inherit;border:0pt none"></div></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">I’m not surprised. Over the last few years, recycling has been subject to a barrage of bad press. First it was the bad markets caused largely by the Chinese decision to ban the imports of recyclables. Then came the stories claiming that our recyclables get tossed into landfills or are sent overseas to be dumped. That was followed by easily quotable and highly misleading statistics such as only nine percent of plastics are recycled.  No wonder many people are suspicious about recycling.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">It's true that markets were bad for a while, but they have rebounded tremendously. Every curbside recyclable, except glass, set a price record last fall or this spring. The average value of a ton of MRF recyclables, including the cost of disposing contaminants, has more than <a href="https://nerc.org/news-and-updates/nerc-bulletin/march-2022?showyear=2022#mrfreport" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(5,99,193)">tripled</a> from a year ago and is almost five times higher than the bottom it hit two years ago. </p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">Some recyclables do go to landfills. But they are the exception, not the rule. As for recyclables or waste being dumped overseas, even before the recent delays in maritime shipping, the cost to dump waste overseas was far greater than the most expensive American disposal facility. The emphasis of the recycling stories focused on mixed plastics that were ostensibly shipped for recycling. But they ignored the far greater tonnages of paper and metals exported to overseas markets who used them as raw materials. </p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">The misleading plastic recycling percentage happens to be <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/documents/2018_tables_and_figures_dec_2020_fnl_508.pdf" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(5,99,193)">accurate</a>. However, it refers to <u style="box-sizing:inherit">all</u> the plastic we throw away, not just the recyclables we place on the curbside. Packaging is only 40 percent of the plastic we throw away. The rest is a wide variety of products containing plastics including clothing, furniture, electronics, shoes, and on and on and on. Most of them aren’t recycled. Yet the recycling rates for curbside plastics such as PET bottles or HDPE milk jugs are 30 percent.  We can do better, but that is considerably more than nine percent.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">Part of the problem is that the press relies on sensationalism. Three years ago, I wrote a column titled <a href="https://www.waste360.com/recycling/man-bites-dog-press-and-recycling" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(5,99,193)">“Man Bites Dog: The Press and Recycling”</a>.  As I noted then, “failing recycling programs are news, the thousands that continue to collect, process and sell recyclables are not.” Let’s face it, bad news sells. That probably explains why in this last year of booming markets, I’ve seen more stories about bad markets than good. </p><div class="gmail-article-banner gmail-dfp-ad-hideempty" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline-block;float:right;margin:16px auto 0px 38px;width:300px"><div style="box-sizing:inherit"><div class="gmail-dfp-tags" id="gmail-bddy4p4ejtd00000bddy4p4ejtd00000bddy4p4e" style="box-sizing:inherit"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/2441/waste360.home/article/recycling_13__container__" style="box-sizing:inherit;border:0pt none"></div></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">What’s frustrating, though, is the eagerness of politicians and advocates to claim recycling is “broken” in order to promote their cure for what ails recycling. They should know better. I’m frustrated by the reluctance of recyclers to challenge the negativity and to make it clear that markets are back and programs are getting stronger. Kudos to the <a href="https://www.concordmonitor.com/My-Turn-Recycling-is-thriving-in-the-pandemic-42162774" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(5,99,193)">Northeast Resource Recovery Association</a> and for the work it has done in this area.  </p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-family:"Source Sans Pro",sans-serif,Georgia,Times,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin:1.5em 0px 0px;padding:0px;font-size:1rem;line-height:29px">Recycling relies on the willingness of people to do more with their trash than just throw it away. If we sit back and let falsehoods prevail, Americans will lose their faith in recycling. And that is truly bad news.</p></div><div class="gmail-comments-wrapper" id="gmail-comments-56612" style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:30px 0px;clear:both;display:table;width:738px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Source Sans Pro",proxima-nova,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"></div></div></div>