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At least half of Philadelphia's recycling goes straight to an incinerator.
David Fahrenthold RetweetedHalf of Philly is going along like everything is normal, putting out recycling in blue bins every week, and yet ALL OF IT GOES TO THE INCERATOR. 0% is actually recycled. @frankkummer @PhillyInquirer uncovered the scandal:
https://www.philly.com/science/climate/recycling-costs-philadelphia-incinerator-waste-to-energy-plant-20190125.html … https://whyy.org/episodes/reduce-reuse-incinerate-recycling-philly-style/ …
Link to tweet
At least half of Philly’s recycling goes straight to an incinerator
by Frank Kummer, Updated: January 25, 2019
....
The days when Philadelphia got paid for its recyclables have faded like the haze of burning trash. At least half of the items for recycling are now being incinerated because the price a contractor wanted to process them by separating paper, plastics, metals, and glass — as well as finding markets for them — became too high.
....
The other half is still going to a recycling facility for processing. But there, it’s likely at least a portion of the loads are contaminated — by food residue, water, or nonrecyclable items — and subsequently disposed of as waste. (Even grease on a pizza box is enough to deem the cardboard nonrecyclable.)
....
City officials say there’s one main reason for this bad turn: China’s recent refusal to accept anything but the most pure loads of recyclables has had a huge ripple effect across the markets.
China, once the biggest single processor of recycling, said in the spring that it would no longer accept loads of recyclable items — such as plastic, glass, cardboard, and metals — that were more than 0.5 percent contaminated. Officials said they were trying to cut down on pollution from processing dirty recyclables.
....
Posted: January 25, 2019 - 5:26 AM
Frank Kummer | @FrankKummer | fkummer@philly.com
by Frank Kummer, Updated: January 25, 2019
....
The days when Philadelphia got paid for its recyclables have faded like the haze of burning trash. At least half of the items for recycling are now being incinerated because the price a contractor wanted to process them by separating paper, plastics, metals, and glass — as well as finding markets for them — became too high.
....
The other half is still going to a recycling facility for processing. But there, it’s likely at least a portion of the loads are contaminated — by food residue, water, or nonrecyclable items — and subsequently disposed of as waste. (Even grease on a pizza box is enough to deem the cardboard nonrecyclable.)
....
City officials say there’s one main reason for this bad turn: China’s recent refusal to accept anything but the most pure loads of recyclables has had a huge ripple effect across the markets.
China, once the biggest single processor of recycling, said in the spring that it would no longer accept loads of recyclable items — such as plastic, glass, cardboard, and metals — that were more than 0.5 percent contaminated. Officials said they were trying to cut down on pollution from processing dirty recyclables.
....
Posted: January 25, 2019 - 5:26 AM
Frank Kummer | @FrankKummer | fkummer@philly.com