China’s recycling ban won’t hurt Waterloo Region

WATERLOO REGION — A new Chinese ban on most foreign recycling material won’t have a direct impact on Waterloo Region.

“Our materials all end up getting sold essentially locally,” said Mike Ursu, operations manager with the region.

Recyclable materials picked up in blue bins across the region are sold to operations in the United States, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky and “quite a bit in southern Ontario.”

China was the main recipient of the world’s recyclable plastics and papers but stopped accepting almost all foreign materials.

The ban took full effect on Jan. 1 but many Chinese companies stopped accepting foreign recycling materials months ago, leaving many cities scrambling to find somewhere to send recyclables as they started to pile up.

That’s not the situation here because our recyclables are sold within North America and the region has longer-term contracts on paper and plastic.

“Nothing’s being stockpiled,” Ursu said.

Eventually, the ban may affect the region’s revenue because more recyclables will be staying within North America. Typically, the region makes $3 million to $5 million in a year selling recyclables.

“The price might be impacted some,” Ursu said. “It’s going to create a supply glut.”

China’s ban came out of frustration of receiving recyclables contaminated with garbage.

Indonesia, Thailand and India are among those countries still accepting foreign recyclables, but competition is stiff to get them to accept the items.

China also has a growing middle class and wants to build the infrastructure to recycle materials domestically, Ursu said.

It’s still accepting separated recycling components, he said, which will eventually drive investments into more careful separating at the source for those municipalities now struggling with the ban. Until that happens, local revenue may be affected.

Recyclables are partially sorted here, and mixed recycling materials are sold to be sorted further.

A blend of newspaper, cardboard and boxboard are sold to Niagara Region, and mixed bales of lower-grade plastics go to a Listowel firm.

Recyclables worth more are sorted and sold individually, including higher-grade plastics and aluminum and steel cans.

While some money is lost selling the mixed lots for further sorting, it’s minimized because they’re already lower value. What’s most important is to keep those items moving out of the region, Ursu said.

“It keeps coming, big time.”