Patricia (@P2P)

“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally released its long-awaited new National Recycling Strategy — and it was not worth waiting for... The plan offers non-specific generalities about how to create markets for the money-losing existing local recyclable collections, while ignoring the potential of those materials that actually do have value — notably consumer electronics — that local governments could profitably “mine”. As matters stand, localities across the US are spending their own funds to run special pickups for what skeptics call “wish-cycling”— the pickup of materials for which markets are limited or non-existent. ...we are spending scarce municipal budget funds that could be used for other purposes to fund separate pickups for materials that no one really wants... And it’s not a new phenomenon. It’s been the case at least since 2017 when China, the former main waste paper destination for US exports, closed its borders to such imports... The fact that there is little demand for recycling paper — much of which tends to be contaminated & unusable anyway — hasn’t deterred us from picking it up. The largest portion (68%) of local solid waste picked up for recycling is paper, despite the lack of demand... If the markets for plastics and paper suddenly shift, then, yes, pick them up. If they’re just going to pile up or be sold at a loss, then don’t. The current tsunami of electronic waste cries out for localities to mine it — and limit US reliance on imports from unfriendly places abroad. The recycling of electronic devices, such as the vastly growing number of cellphones, is a worthwhile idea essentially ignored by the EPA & the GAO. These devices rely on a wide range of so-called rare earth metals, many mined in China or in African conflict zones. They should well be considered of strategic importance — and would command market interest. For example, the Department of Energy (DOE) — in highly original work of which the EPA seems unaware — envisions a new generation of incinerators whose ash can be captured from which heavy metals can be extracted for reuse. Instead of building on the DOE’s innovative work, the EPA & GAO have doubled down on an effort to recycle plastics, glass & paper — all of which might either be incinerated or buried in safe landfill. Platitudes about recycling as an end in itself, based on shibboleths about limited landfill space or annoyance at Amazon boxes, are not useful guides to a sound municipal recycling strategy. Local governments facing budget tradeoffs should pay attention.” https://www.aei.org/politics-and-public-opinion/the-epa-gets-recycling-all-wrong/