Posted on 05/18/2019 1:52:02 PM PDT by KC_Lion
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The halt on China’s imports of wastepaper and plastic that has disrupted U.S. recycling programs has also spurred investment in American plants that process recyclables.
U.S. paper mills are expanding capacity to take advantage of a glut of cheap scrap. Some facilities that previously exported plastic or metal to China have retooled so they can process it themselves.
And in a twist, the investors include Chinese companies that are still interested in having access to wastepaper or flattened bottles as raw material for manufacturing.
“It’s a very good moment for recycling in the United States,” said Neil Seldman, co-founder of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a Washington-based organization that helps cities improve recycling programs.
China, which had long been the world’s largest destination for paper, plastic and other recyclables, phased in import restrictions in January 2018.
Global scrap prices plummeted, prompting waste-hauling companies to pass the cost of sorting and baling recyclables on to municipalities. With no market for the wastepaper and plastic in their blue bins, some communities scaled back or suspended curbside recycling programs.
New domestic markets offer a glimmer of hope.
About $1 billion in investment in U.S. paper processing plants has been announced in the past six months, according to Dylan de Thomas, a vice president at The Recycling Partnership, a nonprofit organization that tracks and works with the industry.
....
In New Brunswick, New Jersey, the recycling company GDB International exported bales of scrap plastic film such as pallet wrap and grocery bags for years. But when China started restricting imports, company president Sunil Bagaria installed new machinery to process it into pellets he sells profitably to manufacturers of garbage bags and plastic pipe.
He said the imports cutoff that China calls “National Sword” was a much-needed wake-up call to his industry.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Donald Trump is the first President in my adult life to truly put America First.
Not just once, but repeatedly.
And all without Federal Government subsidies. The market itself is doing it.
It is ironic that China bans importing US scrap steel as a trade war tactic, but the Japanese went to war in no small part because the US banned scrap metal and oil imports to Japan.
Some claim it was Roosevelt’s prodding in such trade wars that induced Japan into WWII against the US, which Churchill and Roosevelt wanted so they could fight Germany.
They only needed Germany to declare war on the US first, prodded by Japan and by the North Atlantic convoy schemes and provocations. Hitler fell for it.
I'm thinking it would have been nice to tell them no, unless there truly was no American investment first, or European investment 2nd.
“China, which had long been the world’s largest destination for paper, plastic and other recyclables, phased in import restrictions in January 2018.“
More like the ocean by way of China. US companies had actually been paying the Chinese to take this stuff so they wouldn’t have to pay more to actually recycle it.
>>>It is ironic that China bans importing US scrap steel as a trade war tactic
This was not a trade war tactic. China simply decided it no longer wanted to be the world’s dumping ground.
WINNING
Why don’t they try some local recycling now.Most of the plastic waste in the Pacific comes down rivers in China and India to a lessor extent.
Nobody remembers Obama’s cash for clunkers, where the taxpayer paid $5000 for used vehicles, which were then rendered useless, then shipped to China where they then rolled out steel to build their war machine?
Lots of information missing here. For example:
Did the Chinese have a use for our trash (plus their trash), or were they being paid to take our trash (paper & plastic), and then ended up with more (theirs plus ours) than they could use?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.