It is no secret that local communities continue to struggle under the financial weight of maintaining curbside recycling programs. The average community does not make any money on curbside recycling. Most lose. But a 2023 report from the Florida Recycling Partnership suggests there may be a way to save curbside recycling: focusing only on high-demand materials.
Curbside recycling clearly doesn’t work under the current model. Slowly but surely, communities no longer interested in spending money on recycling are abandoning their programs. But researchers say there is a better option. Rather than ceasing all recycling completely, they suggest only recycling materials that enjoy strong demand in the marketplace. They are essentially encouraging supply-and-demand economics in curbside recycling.
The Current Curbside Model
Although there are exceptions to the rule, the current curbside recycling model most communities engage in has residents gathering their paper, glass, and plastic trash – all of which are placed into a recycling bin and put to the curb on collection day. Trash haulers carry away the recycled materials to sorting facilities. From there, materials are sorted and decontaminated before being sent on to recycling facilities.
In principle, it all sounds logical. But cost is a real problem. The biggest expense is sorting and decontamination. They require a combination of automated machines and human workers. Sorting and decontamination are costly, time consuming, and inefficient.
Another thing to consider is that even minor contamination can make an entire truck load of materials unrecoverable. In such a case, the load is sent to the landfill. Yet the money spent on recovering the material from local curbs is not recouped. It represents yet more money lost.
Recyclables Have to Be Sold
In order to cover their costs and hopefully generate a small amount of profit, waste haulers have to turn around and sell the recycled materials. Therein lies the next problem. Market demand for certain types of recycled materials just isn’t there. Trash haulers cannot sell what they collect at a price high enough to make it worth their while.
Focusing only on high-demand materials ostensibly solves this problem. For example, market demand for cardboard and glass has remained consistent for years. Both are materials that can be easily sorted and recycled as long as they remain uncontaminated. Believe it or not, there is one type of plastic that enjoys a higher demand than both glass and cardboard. That plastic is PET.
Tennessee based Seraphim Plastics explains that PET is the most recycled plastic on the planet. They also say that quality PET can be recycled almost endlessly. Manufacturers want it and are willing to pay for it. This suggests that PET is a plastic worth targeting for curbside recycling.
Not True for All Plastics
Not all plastics enjoy a strong recycling market. As a side note, that’s why Seraphim Plastics does not buy just anything. They only purchase post-industrial plastic they know they can recycle and sell. Likewise, municipalities should do the same with their curbside programs. There is no point in trying to recycle materials they cannot sell for a profit.
Focusing on high-demand materials is one way to save recycling. However, making it work would depend on consumers doing their part – which is arguably the hardest component in the recycling equation.
Seraphim’s customers will clean and sort their plastic waste before scheduling pickup. They are incentivized by being able to sell it. Consumers have no such incentive. Quite frankly, that’s why curbside recycling has been such a money loser from the start. Without consumers pitching in to clean and sort, curbside recycling is just too expensive.