Bakersfield, CA Struggles with Recycling As China Stops Taking World’s Trash

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): In Bakersfield, the city’s Solid Waste Department saw the price of a ton of recyclable material fall from $25 in 2017 to zero by the end of the year. Now, the city pays recycling centers around $70 to take the material off its hands. For the moment, the department has stabilized the losses, and can continue to recycle all material it takes in. But the same cannot be said of all cities in California, and the whole system may soon be in jeopardy.

Before China closed its doors to the world’s trash, facilities in the country would take material such as magazines or paper from junk mail, and turn that material into tissue and toilet paper. The city has survived by increasing fees for curbside pickup by 3.5 percent and by dipping into the reserve funds to offset the new cost of doing business. It will cost the city about $750,000 this year to recycle everything and they are monitoring the situation in the future.

Because the city owns its own composting facility, unlike other municipalities, it was in the position to compost mixed paper, which had previously been recycled. Now, instead of old junk mail becoming new Kleenex, it becomes the type of dirt found in potted plants. Local agriculture facilities use this compost for their operations. The county has continued to sell scrap metal to local centers, and items like concrete, wood, electronics, and mattresses still could be recycled by the county.

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantage.com