The Recycling Crisis-The End of Recycling as We Know It

For nearly three decades, recyclable materials from the US were shipped cheaply to China for processing. However, in the past year, China has stopped accepting virtually all of it. Kate O'Neill, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at University of California Berkeley said as a result, local governments and the recycling industry are now facing an unprecedented recycling crisis, especially in plastics. She estimated that, at least for now, nearly 100% of recyclable materials are going into landfills. She discussed the steps that the waste industry is taking to try to fix the problem.