U.S. Recycling Industry Is Struggling to Figure Out A Future Without China
The U.S. used to send a lot of its plastic waste to China to get recycled. But last year, China put the kibosh on imports of the world's waste. The policy, called "National Sword," freaked out people in the U.S. — a huge market for plastic waste had just dried up.
Where was it all going to go now?
In March, executives from big companies that make or package everything from water to toothpaste in plastic met in Washington, D.C. Recyclers and the people who collect and sort trash were there, too. It was the whole chain that makes up the plastic pipeline. It was a time of reckoning.
John Caturano of Nestlé Waters North America, which makes bottled water, said plastic was getting a bad reputation. "The water bottle has in some ways become the mink
