Back in 2016, I shared a blog about the current state of the recycling industry and some of the factors that were creating challenges for both recyclers and consumers. A lot has happened since then, most notably the pandemic, inflation and the enactment of China’s National Sword policy. Recycling in Massachusetts and throughout the U.S. has certainly gotten harder and more expensive since 2016. Here’s a look back at what factors were impacting the recycling industry then, and where things stand now.
Updates on 2016 Recycling Challenges
China and “soft” markets: Any conversation about the global recycling industry is going to involve China, but the situation has evolved since 2016. Back then we were seeing China’s economy slow down, which slowed down its demand for recyclable commodities. China was the world’s largest consumer of recyclable material, so its shifting buying habits had a big impact. The drop in demand for recyclable materials caused commodity prices to drop. And because supply exceeded demand, foreign importers of U.S. recyclable waste could afford to be picky about the quality of the shipments they imported. Recyclers here were already getting nervous about finding customers abroad who would pay to import American commodities.
Everything was disrupted just a year after my original blog when China implemented National Sword. The launch of that program ended China’s importation of plastic waste from the U.S. and imposed strict contamination controls on imported waste. Recyclers here scrambled to find new customers for plastic, since China had been the largest foreign buyer of plastic waste pre-National Sword. Other countries including Malaysia and Thailand stepped up their plastic scrap imports, but were inundated with so much contaminated scrap that several of these countries have since tightened their own policies or banned certain kinds of recyclables altogether.
National Sword has resulted in recyclers spending more time and money sorting scrap to remove contamination from materials that China and other importers are still willing to buy. And the market for plastic scrap recycling has tanked, which means a lot more of it is going into landfills. A 2022 study published by University of Buffalo researchers found that the amount of plastic ending up in U.S. landfills has increased by 23.2 percent since National Sword.
It’s possible that rate will continue to rise as other foreign countries tighten their restrictions on importing recyclables. Thailand plans to ban plastic scrap imports starting in 2025, for one.
Crude oil prices: The close relationship between oil prices and the recycling industry means that an unstable oil market always creates a little chaos for recyclers. And we’re all painfully familiar with the spike in oil prices that happened around the globe in 2022. Crude oil prices rose to a level we hadn’t seen since 2014.
In my 2016 blog, we were just a few years past that last big spike. Crude oil prices had plummeted by the beginning of 2015, suddenly making it much more affordable for manufacturers to produce virgin plastic. The increased supply of cheap, new plastic was a significant blow to the recycling market.
Today, recycling in Massachusetts and throughout the U.S. is being affected by a repeat of that cycle. Crude oil prices are still high, which creates more demand for recycled plastic. But recycling businesses that run lots of heavy equipment and do a lot of transportation also struggle to remain operational when oil prices are high. And recyclers also have to brace for the time when oil prices come down enough that virgin plastic becomes more affordable than recycled plastic again.
Challenges with glass: Glass is a major and ongoing problem for the recycling industry. People know glass can be recycled, so they toss glass bottles and jars into recycling bins without thinking about logistics. Glass that’s mixed into loads of other recyclables will often break from all the jostling during transport and processing. Broken glass then contaminates other recyclables. Instead of selling those usable materials, the recycler has to pay to landfill them.
Glass is also heavy to transport, and broken glass can damage recycling equipment, so collecting glass adds to recyclers’ operating costs. There are also increased labor costs involved when workers have to carefully sort glass out from other commodities. This is another place where National Sword has made things a little more challenging for recyclers in recent years. Chinese importers won’t buy shipments of recyclables that contain more than 0.5% contamination, so broken glass mixed in with a load could lead to the load’s rejection.
Other Factors Affecting Recycling in Massachusetts and the U.S. Now
Because the recycling industry is global and complex, there are a ton of factors that affect how easy and affordable it is for businesses and individuals to get rid of their recyclable waste at any given time. These are just a few of the things that have impacted recycling over the last several years.
- Pandemic-era challenges still linger. The pandemic affected recycling in a lot of ways. Single-use plastic boomed, creating an uptick in plastic waste that’s already hard to recycle. Meanwhile, shipping crises made it difficult and extremely expensive for U.S. recyclers to get their shipments to other countries that had importers willing to buy them. And the labor shortages created by the pandemic are still affecting recyclers.
- Inflation is hurting recycling businesses just like it’s hurting other businesses. Higher prices are just unavoidable right now.
- New legislation and recycling initiatives have been passed. Specifically, recycling in Massachusetts became a little more complicated in November 2022, when MassDEP’s latest waste ban disposal took effect. The ban prevents textiles and mattresses from being thrown in the trash and decreases the amount of food waste businesses are allowed to throw away. Residents are encouraged to reuse or recycle textiles instead. Five recycling companies will also be launching mattress recycling programs.
Miller Recycling is committed to keeping our community and customers informed about the recycling industry developments that affect them. If you have questions about the factors driving the price of recycling in Massachusetts today, or really any questions about our Massachusetts recycling services, contact me today.