LOS ANGELES – Andres Vasquez has seen a lot of recyclable materials. Over the last 15 years he has owned and operated Vasquez recycling in Westchester.
It is one of the few places now where people can actually drop off their bottles and cans for cash redemption.
“Before we make more money, now we make a little bit but not too much,” Vasquez said.
China’s new policy in 2018 has virtually halted the global convenient conveyor belt. Even when China did take our trash, much of the American waste didn’t meet their standards for recyclable material, as the trash was too contaminated about 75 percent of it was burned, buried or dumped into rivers.
To bring it home, Californians throw away six pounds of trash every day, which is the equivalent to almost 2,200 pounds every year, roughly the weight of a subcompact car.
“We don’t have waste crisis per say, we really have a packaging crisis,” said Jessica Aldridge.
For Aldridge, waste has been a decade’s long discussion.
“Recycling is not dead, we are actually in an opportune moment to grab onto what is happening. First and foremost how can I just not create so much material,” said Aldridge.
Less than nine percent of the world’s waste actually gets recycled. Recycling isn’t dead, but it has always been difficult to implement because there is isn’t enough value in waste, and depending on the material, it is hard to recycle into re-useable goods.
After one of the state’s biggest recyclers, Replanet closed their doors earlier this summer, many wondered what happens after you throw it in the blue bin.
“It’s shift where we need to go, we need to reduce the amount of material that’s actually coming into the stream no matter how well these recycling centers are we just have too much stuff,” said Aldridge.
Producer responsibility is what led Senator Ben Allen to co-author a bill that would put California on the forefront of plastic reduction and force producer responsibility. Assembly Bill 1080 and Senate Bill 54, The California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act were two bills aimed at eliminating 75 percent of single-use containers by 2030. The bills would have laid the groundwork for a revamped California recycling industry. However, neither bill passed, but will be eligible for reconsideration next year.
As the volatile recycling industry hangs on the balance of scrap buyers, Vasquez will continue with business as usual.
Currently less than 15 percent of single-use plastics are recycled in California. Recycled or not, our waste problem is growing at an exponential rate with nowhere for it to go. Perhaps it is time to look upstream at how much we are putting into the bins.