11–20 of 24 posts
However, this requires tough choices, so it's easier to have a blue bin and decide you've figured it out.
When the trade war first shots were being fired, China stopped being the USA's garbage disposal service. The 'buying' and 'selling' is a little disingenuous here IMO
China's Waste Ban Is Causing A Trash Crisis In The U.S. (HBO) https://youtu.be/NK20t11He14
This would be a good place to point out that most plastic and paper recycling is worse in practice, in terms of emissions and chemical pollution. The only solution is to use far less plastic. Durable products should be preferred. Items that are disposable are much better off being wood, and deposited in a good clay-lined landfill afterwards. However, this requires tough choices, so it's easier to have a blue bin and…
https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/pft/2019/4/29/six-...
Can't this be a 'make work' project? Get people working. Or, sort recycling/garbage for half a day, and get half a day of free technical training in something like welding or auto mechanics?
> The reduced demand from China and continued supply from the U.S. flooded the world trash market and drove down the price of garbage everywhere. This sentence doesn't make sense. If there is more demand for trash recycling, how is it not driving the price up?
Governments don't pay for recycling when dumping is a cheaper alternative.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If the recycling were getting sorted for free, more recycling stations would be viable businesses.
Not really. The bigger problem at the moment is that the market for recycled materials has effectively disappeared. No one is buying these commodities right now. Chinese government owned businesses spent a lot of money buying US paper and plastic mills then shut them down so they could bring those industries to mainland China. Then they discovered that it wasn't as good a business as they hoped. Now they have stopped…
As far as me: I'm the lead engineer for the mobile and api products at one of the major software providers for independent waste haulers in the US. My family owns and operates a hauling operation in CA, so I've spent my entire life surrounded by the inner workings of solid waste collection, hauling, and processing.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. The bigger problem at the moment is that the market for recycled materials has effectively disappeared. No one is buying these commodities right now. Chinese government owned businesses spent a lot of money buying US paper and plastic mills then shut them down so they could bring those industries to mainland China. Then they discovered that it wasn't as good a business as they hoped. Now they have stopped…
Even if commodity prices are negative, there’s still a price where it’s cheaper than landfill, no?
Waste haulers have always had a non-zero expense for recycling even when the processed materials had strong values. This is because the recycling has to be collected, transported, sorted/processed, then shipped again. Depending on the local market, regulations, incentives/subsidies, and distances involved for shipping it can very easily end up that a negative commodity price tips the scales in favor of landfilling.
Also, it's worth noting that some portion of the recycling stream will end up in a landfill regardless of the commodity price because it's contaminated (or just not a recyclable material) which has an impact on the overall cost per ton of recycling. Commodity prices going negative just push this to include more of the stream since it means only the "best" materials are economically viable for further processing and shipping. It's a balancing act that the industry has been doing internally for a long time, but now it's becoming a serious issue since large amounts of the recycling stream need to be landfilled if we don't want to spend a whole lot more than we already do on solid waste.
'China, which buys most of the world’s garbage, and the U.S., which sells the most. Last year, China dramatically cut the amount of garbage it buys' When the trade war first shots were being fired, China stopped being the USA's garbage disposal service. The 'buying' and 'selling' is a little disingenuous here IMO China's Waste Ban Is Causing A Trash Crisis In The U.S. (HBO) https://youtu.be/NK20t11He14
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. The bigger problem at the moment is that the market for recycled materials has effectively disappeared. No one is buying these commodities right now. Chinese government owned businesses spent a lot of money buying US paper and plastic mills then shut them down so they could bring those industries to mainland China. Then they discovered that it wasn't as good a business as they hoped. Now they have stopped…
Even if commodity prices are negative, there’s still a price where it’s cheaper than landfill, no?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. The bigger problem at the moment is that the market for recycled materials has effectively disappeared. No one is buying these commodities right now. Chinese government owned businesses spent a lot of money buying US paper and plastic mills then shut them down so they could bring those industries to mainland China. Then they discovered that it wasn't as good a business as they hoped. Now they have stopped…
I work in the industry too. I'm always curious about what other's in this industry do when they're on HN, so if you're able can you share what you do? As far as me: I'm the lead engineer for the mobile and api products at one of the major software providers for independent waste haulers in the US. My family owns and operates a hauling operation in CA, so I've spent my entire life surrounded by the inner workings of s…