Gretchen Carey, president of MassRecycle, tells WBUR, “In the Greater Boston area, 80 to 90 percent of our material had gone to China.” Since the new standard took effect, prices for recycled materials have plummeted. For example, the price of mixed paper has fallen from $75 per ton to less than $5. This shift impacts how MassRecycle conducts business, which affects local municipalities.

WBUR notes that local municipal budgets have been thrown out of order, “Massachusetts cities and towns, which are required to recycle household materials, are now scrambling to pay for something that used to turn a profit.” The cost of increased recycling and processing is substantial. According to Gunther Wellenstein, recycling coordinator for Lowell, the city’s new contract for recycling and processing may cost nearly $500,000 per year.

Coordinators like Wellenstein cover these costs by finding money elsewhere in the budget. Wellenstein says, “Half a million can come out of public safety, public education, economic development.” While some may see this as a waste of municipal funds or as unfair to other public service programs, Wellenstein adds, “You have to pay for the increase in trash.”

Single-stream recycling is another factor that has made China’s new policy so disruptive. Single-stream recycling is the system familiar to most people, in which all recyclable materials are deposited into the same bin and collected for processing. Massachusetts has eight Municipal Recovery Facilities (MRF) that process recycled materials.

According to WBUR, nearly 25 percent of waste collected by the Charlestown MRF cannot be recycled because of contamination or because the material is nonrecyclable. The remaining 75 percent is distributed into a waste stream and sorted into mixed paper, plastics, glass, and metals. Massachusetts’ MRFs are designed to reduce contamination to 3 percent, but they now must work to meet the new 0.5 percent standard.

When China first declined to purchase U.S. recycled materials due to contamination, commodity dealers shipped to new markets in Thailand, in India, and in Vietnam. However, these countries now also refuse to purchase recycled materials from the U.S. This means that much of the waste we recycle ends up in landfills.

Each year Massachusetts produces upward of 5.5 million tons of solid waste, 25 to 35 percent of which is recycled. The rest is deposited across 12 landfills in the state. As those sites reach capacity, up to one-third of the waste tonnage is shipped to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York for processing and disposal.

Two relatively easy ways for communities to help the problem are to be mindful of what gets recycled and to make sure that materials are indeed recyclable. Wash plastic containers, such as yogurt cups and peanut butter jars. Pizza boxes with grease stains are okay. Bowling balls and other Marie Kondoed household items are not.

On a macro-level, new markets need to be created for recycled materials. Massachusetts has started to offer “grants to cities and local companies so they can buy grinders to turn … recycled glass into an aggregate to use for building sidewalks and roads and filling potholes.” Although no one solution can address every aspect of the problem that the recycling industry faces, smaller cumulative steps go a long way to help.

What other solutions have your community or municipality considered or implemented to help solve the recycling problem? Leave a comment to let us know!

Source:

Gellerman, Bruce, “How a New Policy in China Has Led to a Recycling Crisis in Mass.,” WBUR, accessed March 20, 2019.

Break out the good champagne!

According to Bloomberg, Disney is the latest company to join a growing list of corporations that have decided to stop the use of single-use plastic straws. Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported that Seattle became “the first major city in the United States to ban drinking straws,” and Starbucks announced that it would remove single-use plastic straws from its 28,000 stores by 2020. To round out this plastic-free parade, in June BBC News reported that McDonald’s will replace plastic straws with paper ones in all of its UK and Ireland locations, starting in September.

For those of you on the front lines of the single-use plastic straw movement, we hope that these recent moves in corporate America will encourage you to keep fighting the good fight. These huge shifts signify not only that your efforts are having an effect, but that the removal of single-use plastic straws is becoming the new norm in our society. At a time when it feels like so much in the world is going wrong, it is refreshing to learn that some things are going right.

To learn more about plastic pollution and an inspiring global effort to reduce plastic waste, read our blog post from last July, Plastic Waste & The Ocean Cleanup.

Sources:

Golum, Rob, “Disney Joins Cast of Companies Abandoning Plastic Straws,” Bloomberg, 2018.
Wootson, Jr., Cleve R., “Seattle becomes first major U.S. city to ban straws,” The Washington Post, 2018.
“Disney Expands Environmental Commitment by Reducing Plastic Waste,” The Walt Disney Company, 2018.
“McDonald’s to ditch plastic straws,” BBC News, 2018.
“Starbucks to Eliminate Plastic Straws Globally by 2020,” Starbucks, 2018.

In light of the coming storm and the potential for flooding in various neighborhoods, we want to share three useful safety tips, courtesy of Mass.gov and State of New Jersey Office of Emergency Preparedness.

1. Make a family emergency plan.

Listen to the evacuation alerts in your town. In case of emergency, separation, or evacuation, choose two places for your family to meet. The first place can be near the house, like a favorite family restaurant or a relative’s house. The second location should be farther away, beyond the evacuation area. Enter “in case of emergency” (ICE) contacts into each family member’s phone. Include the contact’s name, phone number, and address, and be sure to include at least one out-of-state contact. And keep those gas tanks full.

2. Prepare for power outages.

Charge those cell phones, laptops, and other electronic devices! If you have a portable battery charger, make sure it’s charged as a backup. Replace the batteries in your flashlights and stock up on candles, firewood, or a generator if necessary. Keep the doors closed to unused rooms in order to preserve heat, and set your freezer and refrigerator to their lowest settings. A closed refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours while a closed freezer will keep food cold for about 48 hours. If you see a downed power line or if you are dependent on equipment that requires electricity, call 911. Bonus: Have a few games prepared that aren’t dependent on electricity. Our favorites are Quiddler, Scrabble, and Taboo.

3. Assemble an emergency kit.

Think of everything your family needs to be self-sufficient for three days: One gallon of water per person per day; a three-day supply of non-perishable food that does not need to be cooked; personal hygiene items, medications, clothes, and shoes; copies of any necessary medical information or important documents; a first-aid kit, whistle, wipes, and any necessary pet supplies.

Sounds super serious, but your safety is important enough to be take seriously! And taking the steps to ensure that the above items are in place will only help you feel prepared and secure in case things do get serious.

We hope that everyone is safe out there and that, if the need arises, we’ll all be good neighbors and help out in any way we can.

Sources:

“Prepare Your Home for Emergencies,” Mass.gov, 2018.

“Plan and Prepare for Emergencies,” State of New Jersey Office of Emergency Preparedness, 2018.

WHAT IS A SOLAR ECLIPSE?

A solar eclipse is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. As the moon passes between the two bodies, it blocks the light of the sun and casts a shadow on the Earth.

There are three types of solar eclipse: total, partial, and annular.

A total solar eclipse happens when the Earth, the moon, and the sun align perfectly. The moon blocks a large surface area of the sun and the sky becomes dark. Total solar eclipses can be viewed only from a small area on Earth by people who are in the center of the moon’s shadow.

A partial solar eclipse happens when the Earth, the moon, and the sun align imperfectly. The moon blocks a smaller surface area of the sun and thereby eclipses it partially.

An annular solar eclipse happens when the Earth, the moon, and the sun align while the moon is at its farthest distance from the Earth. Since the moon is closer to the sun, it cannot block it entirely. Instead of a total darkening of the sky, the sun casts a ring of light around the moon.

(Flint Wild, “What is an Eclipse?”, nasa.gov, 2017)

MONDAY’S SOLAR ECLIPSE

Monday’s eclipse will be a total solar eclipse. However, not everyone who sees the eclipse will experience it as such. The “path of totality” is a 70-mile-wide span that runs from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. For those who are within the path of totality, they will be able to see the total eclipse, which lasts for roughly two minutes and forty seconds. For those who are outside the path of totality, they will be able to see a partial eclipse of the sun.

Fun Fact: While solar eclipses occur every eighteen months, the United States last experienced a total solar eclipse 38 years ago in 1979!

WHEN TO SEE IT?

New Jersey Audiences                             Massachusetts Audiences
Start of Eclipse: 1:22pm                            Start of Eclipse: 1:29pm
Maximum Eclipse: 2:44pm                      Maximum Eclipse: 2:47pm
End of Eclipse: 4:00pm                             End of Eclipse: 4:00pm

HOW TO SEE IT?

Safety is important when looking at the sun. No one wants to be blinded by the light. Our guess is you’ve heard about solar eclipse glasses. These are ISO 12312-2 compliant shades that block sunlight better than the average pair of sunglasses. If you’re looking to pick some up for the family, check with local science museums, schools, public libraries, and home improvement centers. If you turn up empty, you can ask for ISO 12312-2 compliant shades or see whether a neighbor has any extra pairs.

As most readers of this blog will experience a partial solar eclipse, it is important to wear your eclipse shades for the duration of your viewing. For those viewing the eclipse from within the path of totality, it is safe to remove the shades during the two-minute totality period. Otherwise, shades should be worn at all times.

To learn more about the solar eclipse, visit www.eclipse2017.nasa.gov.

Don’t forget to share your photos with us on the Remyndr Facebook Page. We’d love to hear about your experience!

Have fun at the 2017 total solar eclipse!