Oregon regulators have received more than a dozen requests from companies that want to throw recyclable materials into landfills, and they鈥檙e expecting more聽as China cracks down on waste imports聽from the聽U.S. Oregonians love to recycle, so it makes sense that we鈥檙e still putting paper and plastic into our recycling bins week after聽week.
鈥淭he problem is it has nowhere to go,鈥� said Julie Miller of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. 鈥淩ecycling centers are filling up with聽material.鈥�
Until recently, China has been the world鈥檚 largest importer of recyclable paper and plastic. Northwest companies depend on Chinese buyers to take a huge portion of what we put out on the聽curb.
But earlier this year, China聽announced a ban on these waste imports. That鈥檚 leaving Northwest companies without buyers for recyclable items they鈥檝e already聽collected.
So far, 14 of those companies have asked the state for permission to send it to聽landfills.
鈥淧eople will reach out to us and say we鈥檝e reached this serious capacity issue. Do we have permission to dispose of the materials right now?鈥� Miller said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really looking at this case-by-case, and when there is no other opportunity to recycle the materials we are approving the聽disposal.鈥�
Officials say China鈥檚 ban stems from chronic problems with contamination in the recycling materials coming from the聽U.S.
There鈥檚 so much trash mixed in with our recycling that no companies in the U.S. will buy the material. China has been willing to buy the stuff that had no market in the U.S. in the past, but those days are聽over.
Miller said the state hasn鈥檛 approved any requests to dispose of recycling yet. Four requests have been withdrawn because new buyers have been found. The state is still reviewing 10 requests to make sure there鈥檚 no other option besides the trash聽heap.
While recycling companies are looking for new buyers for recycling materials that used to go to China, officials say Oregonians can help by putting only the correct materials in their recycling聽bins.
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