San Francisco has seen significantly more diversion from its curbside program since changing the standard sizes of recycling and garbage receptacles issued to residents.
Colin Staub is a reporter at Resource Recycling. He can be contacted at [email protected].San Francisco has seen significantly more diversion from its curbside program since changing the standard sizes of recycling and garbage receptacles issued to residents.
Months after China ramped up restrictions on scrap imports, countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam are initiating similar, if less extensive, policies as officials try to get a handle on massive increases in shipments and improper use of permits.
Vietnamese authorities have boosted inspections of scrap imports and plan to halt shipments to key ports next month.
A market expert recently discussed some of the effects China’s National Sword policy has had on that country’s massive paper-products industry.
Debate over source separation has carried on since the single-stream concept emerged, but it has received particular attention over the past year, because of China’s import restrictions and the ensuing market fallout.
China supplies components for a lot of equipment used in the U.S. recycling industry, meaning tariffs on Chinese imports would be felt across many recycling sectors, according to an industry association.
The leader of California’s recycling agency recently weighed in on China’s import restrictions, addressing concerns he’s heard from local government and industry representatives.
The U.S. paper recovery rate declined to under 66 percent last year after multiple years of increases, and an industry group says China’s import ban is to blame.
Adding recovered plastics to biomass in a gasification process can increase the quality and volume of the end product, according to an industry-funded study.
China has ratcheted up inspection requirements for recyclables imported from the U.S., requiring every load to be opened for inspection and shutting down the only organization providing pre-shipment approval in the U.S.