Greenwood Leflore Recycling Center is feeling the effects of an international decision to restrict particular imported recyclables.
“The market for purchasing bales of recyclables isn’t as strong as it was earlier in the year, which means that we have more inventory on hand than we normally do,” said Derek Hinckley, the center’s coordinator.
“We are fortunate in that we have lots of warehouse space and that we can wait for the market to sort itself out.”
In July, China, a large importer of waste, notified the World Trade Organization that it planned to stop shipments of waste paper and plastic that have contained polluted materials as part of a solution to clean up its environment, according to Reuters.
The ban was expected to go into effect by the end of this year.
Hinckley said the community’s program is experiencing lower prices for bales, and as a result, is not moving materials quickly. He said he expects these challenges to continue into 2018.
The recyclables, including paper and plastic, are compressed into 1,000- to 1,500-pound bales and stored at the warehouse at 1500 Commerce St.
Hinckley said there is “copious warehouse space for the time being.”
This won’t become a huge problem unless nothing changes in a year and bales begin to pile up. Hinckley said the bales could be sold but at a greatly reduced price.
Although China’s announcement was made in July, Greenwood didn’t begin to experience its effects until November, when the program’s buyer advised Hinckley the demand for these recyclables would not pick up again until next year.
“Basically one-sixth of the total market closed and that created a surplus of supply. A lot of buyers are hitting pause to figure out what is happening next,” Hinckley said. “The people we sell to have had to figure out how they are going to adjust. It is a ripple effect.”
According to NPR, “the United States exports about one-third of its recycling, and nearly half goes to China.” Hinckley noted that not all recyclables are exported to China.
“We don’t have any control of where our bales go once we sell them,” Hinckley said. “We are basically part of an international sell stream.”
Normally, the center’s bales are sold to an intermediary, who picks them up and trucks them to another location. If the restrictions were to continue long enough, recyclables would need to be shipped to other countries, including some in Southeast Asia, that accept these types of imports, Hinckley said.
NPR reported that programs in other states, such as Oregon, are having to send plastic to landfills, but Greenwood has not reached that point, Hinckley said.
“We are not in that position, and we will not get into that position anytime soon,” he said. “Part of that is that we run a really effective operation, and we produce really clean bales of recyclables.”
At the center, plastic bottles and aluminum and steel cans are sorted by hand. Cardboard and other types of paper are monitored before going into the baler.
Curbside recycling employs two different bins, one for papers and another for the metals and plastics. At drop-off locations, there are separate containers for cardboard, various papers and aluminum, steel and plastic.
Other places, such as Mississippi Valley State University, have not felt the effects of this new decision.
“It does not affect us because our transporter picks up the recycling for us, and they ship it out from their end,” said LaFecia Hoover, sustainability coordinator for the MVSU recycling center.
•Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
