Is Endlessly Recyclable Aluminum The Answer To The Global Recycling Crisis? – by Ariel Knoebel (Forbes Magazine – August 13, 2019)

https://www.forbes.com/

As of August 20, San Francisco International Airport will no longer allow plastic water bottles in airport terminals of foodservice and retail locations. According to the airport’s website, this is “part of an effort to address plastic pollution and the recent collapse of the plastic recycling market.”

China banned imports of foreign plastic for recycling in January 2018. Too much contaminated waste was coming into the country, creating environmental hazards.

Before the ban, 95% of recycled plastics from the EU and 70% from the US were sent to China for processing. In the past six months, Americans have been struggling to continue recycling programs across the country, as processing prices have jumped, and many facilities have stopped accepting many types of plastics.

Rural and small town recycling programs are the hardest hit, and many are closing simply closing their sorting plants and redirecting that would-be recycled material to landfills. That means there is no longer a system to help alleviate the effects of the 1 million plastic water bottles sold globally every minute, but consumers aren’t giving up the convenience of bottled water anytime soon.

Bottled water sales increased 7%, from 12.8 billion gallons in 2016 to 13.7 billion gallons in 2017 (the most recent year on official record), according to the International Bottled Water Association.

For the rest of this article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielknoebel/2019/08/13/is-endlessly-recyclable-aluminum-the-answer-to-the-global-recycling-crisis/#46510ecf55fb