NWRA encourages president to talk recyclables with China

The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, is encouraging President Donald Trump to include recyclables in his talks with China.

The organization sent a letter to Trump Feb. 28 urging him to speak with China about softening its ban on imported recyclables as part of his ongoing trade talks with the Chinese government.

Beginning in 2013, China began to make a series of policy shifts to reduce the amount and types of recyclable materials into their country. In 2017, China announced that it would impose a standard for certain recyclable materials far below industry standards. At the same time, it also banned the importation of several categories of curbside recycled materials.

“NWRA believes there are better ways to achieve China’s goal of improving its environment than to place unrealistic restrictions on imported recyclables. The association has requested the Chinese government phase in its new requirements over a period of five years,” says NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith. “These restrictions could eventually lead to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and the closure of many recycling businesses. We urge the President and his team to raise these concerns with the Chinese government,” said Smith.

The U.S. solid waste industry directly employs about 420,000 people with a total payroll of more than $21 billion, NWRA says. The ban, which became effective March 1, 2018, has shown to have a significant impact on the domestic waste and recycling industry.

In his letter to Trump, Smith says the association has requested that the Chinese government phase in its new requirements over a period of five years to allow time for the global recycling community to adapt to the changes and new recycling infrastructure to be built in the U.S. In addition, Smith urged the Chinese government to adopt international standards and expressed concern that the environment would be the biggest loser when recycling programs fail and manufacturers revert to using resource intensive virgin materials.

“These internationally recognized standards were developed with the input of processors and end users to ensure that end users receive a high-quality product that can be utilized in their manufacturing while at the same time considering the limitations of recycling processors,” Smith says in the letter.

According to Smith, some commodities’ values have dropped to 60 percent of where they were just two years ago. In addition, the lack of markets for some materials has resulted in them being stockpiled and landfilled. For more information about the impact of China’s restrictions on the waste and recycling industry, see the NWRA’s issue brief and policy paper.