Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • June 25, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com C onnecticut residents and businesses may soon re- ceive a lesson in the true cost of recycling. Industry officials say that a recent shift in China's import policies has caused steep drops in the value of several high-volume recycla- ble commodities, including mixed pa- per and corrugated cardboard, which has sent the industry scrambling for new markets and buyers. China, the largest foreign buyer of U.S. recyclables, has banned some recy- clable commodities and cracked down on others with stringent new limits on how much contamination — meaning non-recyclable scrap materials — can be in the bales it buys (just 0.5 percent in many instances). The new restrictions fall under China's "National Sword" policy that began kick- ing in last year and are aimed at clean- ing up the East Asian nation's notorious environmental problems. Connecticut industry officials say the policy serves as a ban on certain recyclable commodity imports from the U.S., as few facilities here can produce bales with contamina- tion rates of less than a few percent. That's a major problem for Connect- icut, which processes an estimated 1.25 million tons of recyclables each year, according to state data. The situation has already trans- lated into higher recycling costs and threatens to have an even bigger im- pact when current contracts between sorting facilities, haulers and munici- palities expire over the next few years, should conditions persist. There is some disagreement over whether China might blink and roll back its restrictions. Some believe the country needs more raw materials for industry than it can produce on its own, while others say this is the new normal. Meanwhile, public and private recy- cling facilities in the state are scrambling to find new markets for their commodi- ties, but it won't be easy to replace China. "The concept that there's trouble in paradise is an important message to get out there," said Steve Changaris, north- east manager for the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), which represents private waste and recycling companies and equipment manufactur- ers. "It may cost more money to get this job done in the future." Michael Paine, chairman of NWRA's Connecticut chapter and president of East Granby waste and recyclables hauler Paine's Inc., said if prices for recycled commodities remain sup- pressed, sorting facilities will have to pass on higher costs to haulers and ultimately customers. "At the end of the day, we have to pay our bills," Paine said. Lee Sawyer, legislative director at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), said so far, the agency hasn't received any waiver requests from recycling facili- ties that would allow them to burn or otherwise dispose of materials that are on Connecticut's mandatory recycling list. That happened earlier this year in Massachusetts, industry news pub- lication Waste Dive reported, due to strained processing capacity at some Bay State facilities. Recycling operators have been forced to slow their conveyor belts to allow for more contaminants to be picked out of the recycling stream. Connecticut facilities have done the same to meet China's new scrap restric- tions, Changaris and others say. Sawyer said DEEP is closely moni- toring how China's new rules impact the cost of recycling for Connecticut's recycling industry, as well as munici- palities and their residents. "It's going to be a wakeup call for people to see how expensive this may get and how much cost is passed along to residents," Sawyer said. Regardless, DEEP will continue to promote recycling, Sawyer said. "Our biggest concern is people might think we shouldn't recycle anymore," Sawyer said. "We hope we can weather this storm and get back to a better place. In the meantime, we can't stop doing it." Hartford plant feels the squeeze At the quasi-public Materials Innova- tion and Recycling Authority (MIRA) in Hartford, Thomas Gaffey, director of re- cycling and enforcement, has watched with concern lately as extra bales of pa- per have piled up at the 64,000-square- foot Murphy Road recycling plant. Less than two years ago, Gaffey said MIRA was getting about $75 a ton for mixed paper. China policy adds new challenge for CT's recycling efforts By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com The Department of Energy and En- vironmental Protection's Legislative Director Lee Sawyer says the agency is continuing to work to educate residents about what and what not to throw away in their recycling bins. It launched a marketing campaign last year called "What's in, what's out." It sounds like a simple problem to solve, but depending on which facil- ity you ask, non-recyclable items like plastic bags and even dirty diapers are increasing in frequency in single- stream bins, despite education efforts. Thomas Gaffey, recycling director at the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, suspects pay-as-you-throw trash collection in certain communities may be inadvertently incentivizing less scrupulous residents to toss overflow trash into the recycling bin so they don't have to pay for an additional trash bag. "We think it's going to be a long pro- cess, it needs to be a sustained push," Sawyer said. China's new scrap restrictions only compound existing challenges for Connecticut's recycling efforts. The state is trying to divert 60 percent Tough Haul China's new scrap-restriction policies disrupt CT's recycling industry Industry and state officials say that people continue to toss too many contaminants into their recycling cans. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Thomas Gaffey, of the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, says paper bales at MIRA's Hartford facility are stacking up higher than usual as a result of China's strict new import policies, which is making it harder to sell recyclable commodities like mixed paper. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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