When China closed its market for recycled plastic and paper in 2018, one of the underlying issues was contamination of the recycled materials. The National Waste and Recycling Association admitted that in 2018, 25% of the “blue bin” recyclables were contaminated with food and other non-recyclable materials.
In an effort to get as many households to recycle as much as possible, early recycling standards were loose. So pizza boxes with tomato sauce and oil were dumped into the cardboard bin, and dirty diapers were mixed with plastics. All of this contamination added to the labor of separating recyclables, which added to the cost. In 2018, China, the world’s largest importer of recyclables decided that the extra cost was not worth the effort, and closed much of its recycling plants.
Other markets, including some in the US have emerged, but the problem with contamination is forcing recyclers to make new demands on households and individuals for cleaner recyclables. The NWRA says the contamination rate has since dropped to about 20%, but that is still too high. Brokers want the rate to be 10% or less. If the contamination rate is too high, the recycler can refuse it, so that the entire load ends up in a landfill or incinerator, negating all of the efforts of the 75% of the recyclers who properly separated their waste.
All of this means, that if we want to be good recyclers, we have to put more efforts into limiting contamination. Food, diapers, motor oil, do not go into the blue bin, and blue bin items that are contaminated go into the gray bin. So wash out the ketchup bottles, empty the beer bottles, toss out the dirty cardboard. It may seem counterintuitive to recyclers, but in the long run, it’s what we have to do.