America Recycles Day came and went yesterday, but it’s not too late to watch this informative video that explains how commingled trash gets recycled, aka how single stream recycling works, aka what happens to the stuff in your blue bin:
The video’s put together by RecycleBank, an innovative company that actually pays local governments and its residents for recycling (sorry — RecycleBank doesn’t work in Cali, but as a sidenote, my friend Summer’s eco-boutique BTC Elements offers discount coupons to people who take advantage of RecycleBank’s services.). Check out its Explore the Cycle site to find out what happens to these recyclables once they get sorted by type.
The section to note is the “Overseas” video, which shows that many recyclables aren’t recycled in the US — but are shipped (read: lots of fossil fuels burned) to other countries like China to get recycled, then shipped (read: more fuels burned) back to the US in the form of either new raw materials or products. RecycleBank sanguinely portrays this process as a boon to world trade, but I’m left wishing we could do more of the actual recycling in the US, if not in California.
In California, we don’t even have a recycled paper mill — so we end up shipping all our used paper all the way to China for recycling. Let’s hope that Obama’s greener economy encourages new US businesses to spring up that’ll help us recycle more efficiently.
In the meantime, make sure you close the loop and buy recycled products. This’ll help entrepreneurs see that there’s a growing market for recycled paper — and that they could benefit from getting into the recycling biz.
And continue using your blue bin, lest you incur the wrath of Mike at Franklin Avenue, who’s pissed about Angeleno drivers that toss their recyclables onto the roads: “People, it’s 2008. That’s just not how we do things. The world is not your trash can.”
Alot of recyclable materials (especially electronic wastes) that are sent to china are often processed in manners that are illegal in the US. These processes may be as simple as burning, or involve dangerous acids and other chemicals. Since safeguards are more lax in certain parts of china, not to mention labor is cheaper there, it is more profitable and easier. Though, it’s not very eco friendly at all.
Comment by Deviantsaint — December 1, 2008 @ 7:53 pm