The president of the Iowa Recycling Association says a perfect storm has come together to cause the price of recyclable materials to plunge. Alan Schumacher says part of the problem is some Iowans think everything can be recycled and they’re bogging down the system with trash that should go to the landfill.
Business in former end markets like China and various Third World countries has been drying up, Schumacher says, but China is now looking to get into the recycling business on American soil.
In the new legislative session opening next month, he says the association will be pushing Iowa lawmakers for an enhanced bottle bill, including more money for redemptions of five-cent bottles and cans.
Instead of being recycled, recent reports found 20 tons of paper per day were sent to landfills in central Iowa this summer because China tightened the standards on what it would accept. Dozens of companies and governmental entities are members of the Iowa Recycling Association.
