Why China Stopped Buying U.S. Recycling

In 2018, China banned the import of most of the world's recycling. Now, Chinese companies are investing in recycling facilities in the U.S.
Chinese paper companies are opening offices in the U.S. in an attempt to gather and export recycled pulp, instead of the raw recyclable materials. The trend comes after China implemented a series of new policies prohibiting the import of scrap recyclable materials in 2018 that is having huge repercussions on the global recycling market.
“It was an aphorism in the recycling industry that China had the most stringent environmental laws in place. They just didn’t enforce them. Well, that changed beginning in 2013, with a Customs Enforcement action called Operation Green Fence,” Dylan de Thomas, vice president of industry collaboration at the Recycling Partnership, told CNBC.
Laws regarding specific environmental regulations were passed in 2006 and 2010, and the country officially began a crackdown in February 2013. Recovered plastic shipments to China dropped about 99% from 2017 to 2018, according to Resource Recycling.
After a public awareness campaign and outcry from Chinese citizens - ignited in some cases by the documentary “Plastic China” - the country implemented a series of policies called Green Fence, National Sword and Blue Sky to stop curbside pickup from ending up in unmanageable quantities in China.
However, recyclable scrap materials were still being collected, so the industry started to adapt.
“Changes in Chinese policies have really focused energy and attention - and I’m also glad to say innovation - on the topic of recycling,” Peter Wright, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management, told CNBC.
American companies, like Waste Management, have been investing in upgrading domestic sorting facilities. Chinese companies have been buying up old paper mills in the U.S. to produce enough scrap material to support China’s manufacturing output.
Paper giant ND Paper, owned by Chinese corporation Nine Dragons Paper, recently opened mills in Maine, Wisconsin and West Virginia. While their operations combine virgin and recycled goods, their Fairmont, West Virginia mill has the capacity for 240,000 tons of recycled pulp, according to ND Paper.
Watch the video to find out how the recycling industry is adapting to massive changes in Chinese policy.
» Subscribe to CNBC: cnb.cx/Subscri...
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: cnb.cx/Subscri...
» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: cnb.cx/Subscri...
About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: cnb.cx/LinkedI...
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: cnb.cx/Instagr...
#CNBC
Why China Stopped Buying U.S. Recycling

[@p52893]

We as Americans should clean up our own mess.

[@RossCampoli]

Everybody’s recycling rules changed about a year or two ago. It’s fascinating to think that practically all the plastic recycling in the US went to China.

[@Dankman9]

They all changed because of China.

[@RM.....]

and now you cant give recycling away,no one wants it

[@kamilareeder1493]

People in NYC love to brag about the city's recycling program and green-spaces like that makes it an eco friendly city lol. Now I can tell all the hipsters that it was just going to China the whole time lol. I feel like shipping it overseas defeats the benefits to the environment that you'd get by recycling in the first place. It'd be better to handle it here

[@mandisimtshali7098]

Amzing what can change in 2 yrs;

[@DanBurgaud]

TO get rid of garbage: 1. Preach recycling: it is good for the environment and how one can make money. 2. Introduce recycling to a poor country and set them up with recycling facilities. 3. Start sending your garbage to them. 4. Once they wised up, there is always another poor country. "HELLO MALAYSIA! Let me teach you about recycling." rinse repeat!

[@MasterPlace-gs9tf]

Well no crap, I wouldn’t want to buy someone’s trash..

[@lgeolore770]

This is why we need to become self sufficient and stop importing apx 90% of EVERYTHING THAT turns into waste from CHINA to began with

[@davidt8274]

@@lgeolore770 yep, no demand means china won't have produce so much rubbish! Clearly our fault, thanks for clarifying, we should buy less rubbish so there's less demand for it, and then less production will follow!

[@beaudavis3808]

In truth, we should not be sending our recycled materials to overseas. We should be handling them ourselves.

[@dubious6718]

First you need to stop sending production to Asia

[@griffinthies7789]

With what infrastructure do we have to do that

[@robertkat]

You dont have to stop it! Asian countries have not accepted any recycling trash for the last 2 years. We are going to be buried in our own trash!

[@PresidentialWinner]

@@robertkat Like the video says, this is a boon to our own recyling plants.

[@carolinecaroline4667]

Agreed. Each home should have it's own shredding machine for plastics. We should send it cleaned and shredded to a recycling center to melt it down. Turn it into something. And then get a tax credit per pound. Dollar for Dollar.

[@christianguzman8228]

China investing in the U.S. Manufacturing and Processing is the biggest irony of this century.

[@royk7712]

how it turn the table lol

[@DistractedDaisy]

Title should be "Why The U.S. Stopped DUMPING Recycled Goods IN China

[@KeraJaay]

Or why did China stop buying recycling from the US

[@DistractedDaisy]

Kera Jaay they were doing us a favor

[@shiroineko13]

Yep. Actually thinking how to prevent, reduce, handle and recycle waste requires actual thought, effort and investment, which is obviously too much of a hassle to deal with for many municipalities! Now they are forced to do otherwise, which is a good thing. It will spur innovation and move the industry forward.

[@h.h4423]

I truely appreciate every person willing to protect our planet! This is a long journey for human beings.

[@OMEGATRON13]

The first mistake was outsourcing jobs ....no need to go further

[@davidt8274]

You must be pretty uneducated to think you'd want a literally garbage job like that.

[@chiyerano]

Thanks for this info. I have often wondered about what exactly is done with recycling and the issues around it.

[@The_General_Zubas]

3:40 good, good. we needed this. i should look into this document.

[@RandyLy]

I had a feeling that it would affect America just for a short while. Yes, China's policy was strict, but knowing American entrepreneurship and human ingenuity; we can adapt to any situation. And also, don't get me wrong, recycling is good. But we have to shift our focus on lessening the number of recyclable goods. Remember, it's Reduce, Reuse, and lastly Recycle. People focus so much on Recycling that they forget the first two steps.

[@kamilareeder1493]

It's very true, I feel like I see people use a similar logic when it comes to consuming anything. " It's okay, I'll just declutter and donate the stuff so it won't go to waste" But then the system is so burdened that it's thrown away anyways. Work in costume design and didn't come back to the world of clothing construction for a number of years because I found the waste of fabric and skilled labor so disgusting. Textile waste is another problem that's equal to plastic waste. most affordable clothing now, is similar in terms of how it's woven and the fabric itself is often cheap plastic which can't be recycled multiple times. We used to have two seasons to produce for and now there's like 35-50. High end fashion shows, often waste yards and yards of durable, wearable natural fibers in producing things people can't afford or that are so over-designed you can't wear them. They burn that clothing to create a "scarcity" instead of tailoring production to demand :( . After working in tailoring and costume design though, I can tell you that recycling these plastic and plastic/textile products would mean significant changes in the design/function and appearance of these products, which is fine, but 9/10 times people will trade functionality, standards of quality, and real brand values for convenience, hype, and a aesthetics every time. Until those values change, nothing else will. Especially most young people, have never experienced true craftsmanship, we grew up with excessive branding and everything made in China.

[@RandyLy]

@@kamilareeder1493 Sadly, I see people would rather waste/trash it than donate it. I've seen perfectly clean, packaged food be trashed or be purposely damaged behind grocery stores because they couldn't make a profit from it or it was near the expiration date. We could have donated it to a food bank. The world is just an unfair distribution of goods

[@cancerfour69er]

Lol don't make me laugh the more than average American and European is as lazy as lazy gets..I'm in UK and see it daily.. Admittedly USA is extremely bad with pollution etc etc...

[@Predestinated1]

MSNBC changed the title from "How China creates jobs in the US" to this 😂😂😂

[@habibbialikafe339]

Limfow

[@chinhphan4787]

You mean "How Capitalism creates jobs". Companies follow the money. It was profitable to send it to China before now it's not. China didn't create anything. LMAO 🤣

[@davidt8274]

@@chinhphan4787 by your logic, neither did the USA

[@chinhphan4787]

@@davidt8274 But the USA is Capitalistic by design, is China? Wait, isn't Capitalism against the Communist ideology? Someone should tell that to modern day Communists.

[@manguanxu3612]

@@chinhphan4787 Or someone should tell you about the modern day "communist"

[@Xergecuz]

Just standardize trash so it's easier to recycle.

[@Reed160]

It is easy, people are just too lazy to care.

[@AvadaKedavra943]

The thing is, the local tax rate, aka property tax rate, will go up significantly. If you are not aware, recycling before China changed the policy was the number one municipal expenditure in most developed countries, the US and Canada included. In Canada, this number was frequently north of 70% of municipal spending.

[@SouthernBelleReviews]

I like how the tile changed from How China Is Creating More Green Jobs..... to Why China Stopped Buying US Recycling.... 🤔 Why the drastic title change, huh??? Sketchy!!

[@virendarchahal8200]

I didn't get your point

[@Janlingchen]

Virendar Chahal she is pointing out the agenda in which the channel operates in.

[@RossMalagarie]

Why is this in my recommendations? It came out in March 1, 2020? Isn't KZbin supposed to recommend videos to me I didn't search for 10yrs after they are uploaded to KZbin?

[@Vicious1337]

Ok boomer

[@lashlarue7924]

Great journalism from CNBC. I am continually impressed by the high quality of content. I think The Economist is the only other brand with this much credibility.

[@kp8381]

That made me laugh today.CNBC high quality.....good one.....lol

[@AbelRamirezII]

1:23 Why can't we have American owned businesses and companies filling this recycling center void instead of China owned companies here in the U.S.???

[@ubercoolnamehere]

They are owned by US with Chinese investment. So maybe 50/50

[@Bonanzaking]

Zute lack of initiative. No one has stepped up to the plate at the opportunity. It’s been Chinese money. There’s plenty of investment money in America but nobody has put their money where their mouth is.

[@AbelRamirezII]

@Zute exactly... I think the US is too reliant on China for many things that we need on a daily basis. Things like politics or epidemics like we are seeing now have big consequences to US consumers and businesses.

[@americanbobtail1]

Because the US mafia in the waste management industry and/or municipalities can't intimidate the Chinese because they fend for themselves and have their own protection. Times have changed.....

[@zzm2405]

because capitalism

[@DOKOTV]

They forgot to mention the world is going paperless and also working towards no single use plastic for a safer world for our future generations.

[@WBCY2024]

How dare they not pay for our trash

[@stevepettersen3283]

One way to reduce the contamination is to get apartment complexes to provide each current and new resident with a local "how-to" flyer on recycling provided by the waste/recycling company. People move and take their recycling habits from their previous cities to their new ones. Have the info available in foreign languages via web site.

[@Phlegethon]

In China you can actually implement change. Let’s just debate more in the US while the world burns

[@weatherspoonelias]

Phlegethon our government system was never meant to implement change so rapidly.

[@BelleLopez312]

What change? We're you being sarcastic? YOU don't even have a voice in China w/o being permanently jailed without cause. Debate is a 1st World luxury protected under Freedom of Speech. The rest of the world is busy Living or Dying, and THATs a daily reality as jobs & money are scarce. No time to be debating about nonsense. Just saying...

[@edwink1467]

@@BelleLopez312 I take it you have a lot of experience in China?

[@BelleLopez312]

@@edwink1467 As a one family tour group in China, we saw first hand how they treated the helpless Elders with great disrespect. Rich Auntie had our Bus driver replaced due to such act. Yelp Friend saw a roaming cockroach in tourist dining hall. Then, I volunteered to get Chinese Visa for my cousins that is a Stolen Identity redflag due to Birth Certificate copy for minors. I'm half Chinese, and I say native Chinese are SHADY AF! {Majority are Atheist, that becomes a problem with moral issues}

[@liburtin]

Belle Lopez instead of pointing to the government, you say all Chinese are shady, very nice argument, I like that

[@_FireHeart]

@CNBC , *“one bin for all recyclables” system simply DOES NOT WORK.* We in the US should learn from Scandinavian countries how to correctly deal with trash.

[@AnthonyTolhurst-dw1nc]

From kindergarten.

[@_FireHeart]

Anthony Tolhurst , what about kindergarten?

[@danieln.9638]

How does that work exactly?

[@cerisem7727]

There is a few towns in Japan that have perfected the practice of recycling, that many countries or cities have tried to follow as well.

[@_FireHeart]

Cerise M , yes, I agree...Japan too.

[@Clamlifenc]

This country need to coming up with the solution to our problems, is reuse. If everyone brings their reusable bags to shop, we can cut back out plastic bags. If we use the water bottles containers and refilled it over and over again. Then we eliminated plastic water bottles. If we have the refilling stations for soft drinks companies, that will help eliminate cans...the country needs to work together to able to make our planet a better place. Educating our new generation with ads, banners, communication and community sharing knowledge to make this happen.

[@Fstop313]

America needs to take responsibility for our own recycling.

[@Marc83Aus]

Its not 'recycled goods' as the title implies. Untill the material gets turned back into sellable products it's just garbage, yes, its potentially recyclable, but its not even clean, sorted, good quality recyclables, that stuff is too valuable to ship out, no the leftover basically useless waste is sent overseas where cheap almost slave labour and lack of decent laws against dumping has made processing the stuff economically viable, but not now, china and many other countries don't want it, we need to deal with our own excrement.

[@Herowebcomics]

Recycling is good, but being mean to people is not! You can recycle without being mean!

[@solstar4778]

Apparently we are unable to recycle the plastic and glass into building materials in the USA 🤔🙈

[@justfortheviews1383]

Single use plastic problems should still be resolve.

[@SouthernBelleReviews]

Amen!!

[@linden5576]

😂😂😂 Who says china stop purchasing homes and property in the United States!!!😂😂 well, they just purchased a home next to me and they’re renting it out so somewhere the information hasn’t been updated from three years ago to 2023!😮

[@garrylum6025]

I’m not surprised i’ll use to found glass in bales of paper, plenty of plastic in it.

[@honantong]

Good to see positive news

[@BoydGilbreath]

Lots of lies and propaganda on recycling now. Lots of efforts to make the public think it's their fault. Less than a third of the stuff consumers submit for recycling. The "facts" this video present are time twisted and misleading. Everything possible should be recycled. Manufacturers should self regulate specifications for everything made to allow recycling and the manufactures should be held responsible for every item they manufacture.

[@easonhuang7117]

In Japan, people strictly follow recycling rules, and it is increasingly the case in China.

[@theligerloverman]

Reducing is always better than recycling.

[@nehcooahnait7827]

Amusis well... Americans need to... the ‘AMERICAN’ way of living is built upon unnecessary consumption...

[@jeffreydevoti8528]

Materials need to be designed with disposal as a primary consideration. Regional waste reclamation centers built to sort by the most efficient means. What can't be economically reused could be disposed of by a combination of burning, composting or landfills.

[@andraslibal]

0:08 "That makes sense" no it does not we ship plastic crap half around the world and then ship back the packaging again half around the world. What would make sense is to make things in the US consume them in the US and then use the collected packaging inside the US (for example, gasify and burn them for energy). Denmark and Sweden have already perfected it, plastic is a very good high energy content fuel and if you burn it after gasification it burns completely and all you get is clean CO2 (and water).

[@EvanRustMakes]

Recycling has a lower carbon footprint than extracting and processing the raw materials. By recycling what we already have, we can keep prices low and excess pollution low as well

[@andraslibal]

@@EvanRustMakes depends on what you recycle. If it saves forests I am all for paper recycling but plastic might take more energy to recycle than to make new.

[@EvanRustMakes]

@@andraslibal But regardless of even the CO2 output, how do you think new plastic is made? It is primarily derived from fossil fuels, so by recycling, we can cut down on extraction, which can cut down on the carbon footprint even more

[@andraslibal]

@@EvanRustMakes no, actually you are making a lot of oil and natural gas as a byproduct by fracking and you should use that natural gas instead of just burning it off, it is happening, gas thermal plants replacing coal, LNG being made and exported ... think of it as making it go one more cycle as a product instead of being burned off immediately. The longer you keep it in the loop the more it cuts down on waste.

[@BelleLopez312]

MAGA! 😁 USA is slowly making progress but significant efficiency in price & quality since 2008. 🤫

[@RossMalagarie]

America its simple. Recycling is SUPER BIG MONEY. It provides industries, jobs, and cleans the earth. So the answer is make recycling plants in the US. REQUIRE all items be cleans with hot soapy water and put in recycling pins for specific items. The only things that can NOT be recycled are those items that are destroyed when you clean them such as a pizza box. But ALL OTHER ITEMS CAN BE RECYCLED. AND SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO BE CLEANED AND SORTED AND PICKED UP TO BE RECYCLED. If your garbage is found to not be cleaned and sorted then you would be fined. That way ALL items are recycled, which means less land fill, plants bring jobs, and less waste makes the earth cleaner. You welcome.

[@joseecheagaray7620]

I agree. Big money. Chinese are making it and also keeping the garbage here. That's a bonus for them.

[@mfgJoseph]

What you did at 2:26 is an example of waste contamination. Those forks, knives and spoons are either commercially compostable or garbage (landfill). They don‘t go to the blue bin.

[@Lightning-jc6re]

Anyone notice the positives at the end are only about paper pulp and nothing to do with the unrecyclable plastics

[@jdbrinton]

That Casey Neistat lookin' fella seems pretty depressed about the whole situation.

[@Enrique-peralta]

We need to use glass in almost everything if we really want renewable

[@Steve-oj2lx]

Glass uses alot of energy to produce, heavier to transport

[@karolinakuc4783]

​@@Steve-oj2lxBut doesn't contaminate food with microplastics.

[@shaquicedacosta]

Wouldn’t it be cheaper for the household to separate the garbage? That’s what we do where I live, the city gives us a booklet explaining everything.

[@isuruthiwanka9448]

well done china..

[@bingo7179]

Please recycle to make the world a better place

[@GURken]

please can somebody tell how a skyscraper at 5:21 is called?

[@dannyv4631]

That's the Beijing central business district, the tallest is the China Zun, and the atypical looking one that you might be referring to is the cctv headquarters

[@nehcooahnait7827]

The international trade center buildings are on the left but seem to be blocked in this scene. Try google earth for a better view from space

[@raywei8472]

@@dannyv4631 Fun fact: that CCTV headquarters is nicknamed Big Underwear

[@JonathanLopezUT]

I think we have to stop trading with China and keep the recycled goods here and manufacture the goods we need here with recycled material. Our whole supply chain starts in China, and I think that is plain stupid. I get why they do it though, to avoid environmental regulations. What happens when China starts to pay more attention to their own environment and pollution in their cities caused by manufacturing.

[@zageguy]

I have an issue with the editing here. Contamination is mentioned but the stock video of the blue bin is seen with plastic utensils and paper cups, which are not accepted in the majority of curbside recycling programs. This imagery portrays these items as okay but they are Contamination.

[@JerryDLTN]

Condo, townhome, and apartment communities aren't set up for roadside pick up of recycling...most just have a community dumpster (that people from outside the community dump their garbage in).

[@Cornfed_Off-road]

Why wouldn't America just recycle the stuff here?

[@brocode2763]

Someone should tell China about the Luke verso Papermill that shut down last year and put over a 1,000 people out of work the plant sits empty yet it is 100% green and has a carbon negative foot print.

[@cancerfour69er]

Telegraph 2018 Millions of tons of waste plastic from British businesses and homes may be ending up in landfill sites across the world, the government’s spending watchdog has warned. Huge amounts of packaging waste is being sent overseas on the basis that it will be recycled and turned into new products. However, concerns have been raised that in reality much of it is being dumped in sites from Turkey to Malaysia.

[@brentchristine2804]

Wait, are they saying that the public turning against plastic has destroyed the recycling industry?

[@Redman6522]

Recycling is going to stop in the United States unless the US government subsidies recycling companies. When China stop purchasing recyclable goods, the price of recyclable goods drop to 0. Therefore, there is no way for a recycling company to recover money from it.

[@goatface6602]

Why would they send us US $$$ for garbage?

[@V1V2v]

So china stopped being dumping ground. period.

[@michaelgray1803]

Humans sorting this by hand on an conveyor belt ridiculous

[@lucansanchez5129]

Australia's recyclable system for plastics should be integrated for processing for new oil to make new polymer and petrol with Australia's new recycling technologie. Australia should be building the new system in China if they can't process the amount of plastic in Australia.

[@evereststevens5408]

Go china 🇨🇳 👏

[@Baz.007]

That's what happens when the Americans and other "developed economy" citizens think the recycling bin is for cardboard, aluminum can, fish bones and keeping the bin lid opened when it rains.

[@johnz.2907]

Genius sells our garbage back to us. Lol

[@roninnder]

For me it means that instead of recycling a bunch of stuff I just throw almost everything into the trash. They don’t accept anything anymore.

[@cyber-psych2503]

Oldest corporate trick in the book: create a whole lot of unnecessary trash you don't clean up by yourself, then wait until someone gets covered up with your trash, then only offer to clean it up if you get paid. Title: More Stupid American History. Chapter-2020. Paragraph, 2016 thru...

[@danyala.1659]

Love to see innovation.

[@xSirDudex]

I quit recycling. It is not really helping. We need to just stop making so much useless stuff. There should be limits on the number of items a company can make. There shouldn't be dozens of kinds and brands of the same product.

[@Reed160]

Honestly, throwing away plastic is better for the environment at this time. Same for paper products, especially if your city can compost. Energy to clean and ship it is just much more that it's worth, and landfill space is not in as short supply as we think. Most plastics will be compostable in the next 15 years, almost all the traditional non-recyclable plastics (cups, straws, plastic forks, etc.) have compostable alternatives. You should always always always take time to clean and recycle metal though, it is extremely efficient to recycle.

[@Reed160]

Also, that 2nd part isnt going to happen in a functional economy unless consumers make the choice to buyers things. Which they wont

[@xSirDudex]

@@Reed160 I know it's pipe dream. It would never happen.

[@beback_]

This whole thing is playing out well for everybody it seems.

[@jifa17]

LOL, I like it when they choose to call the waste garbages raw materials.

[@nehcooahnait7827]

Amusis save it. He wouldn’t understand it

[@jifa17]

@Amusis Yes, of course. Then why don't Americans use them by themselves before? Ever thought about that?

[@bgregg55]

There needs to be more focus on the overuse of non-functional product packaging. Styrofoam & any non-recyclable packaging should be completely eliminated.

[@aizuddinhalim]

Why don't America recycle their own garbage?

[@kuromikendall]

doctor: "you have 14 minutes and 23 seconds left to live" me:

[@ammo2960]

Also a good way to fall asleep

[@Alonsooooooo]

Every country should deal with they own trash.

[@CH-oe5ei]

Well, we have been complaining that their land is polluted. And even viruses smarten up...

[@TheShadowPhoenix]

Why tf are we sending our trash elsewhere instead of taking care of our things ourselves! We should not need another country to tell us that it’s important to take care of our personal and environmental health...

[@The_General_Zubas]

9:30 Robots do the Sorting, people do everything else. that hard part is getting consistent sorting. we got Robots with HQ cameras? might help. Partial Automation seems to be the best course.

[@The_General_Zubas]

@Oh Dang yea, robots coming programmed is a prerequisite to that, if they dont have AI, how will they know and learn what to grab and what not to grab?

[@The_General_Zubas]

@Dark of the knight Hmm, so A large SSD for the Robot to utilize those.fikes is needed, for fast Data use.

[@bobs3705]

It's about to time .....

[@adiposerex5150]

A subsidairy? Don't record videos if you don't have a command of the English language.

[@oliverlison]

Why can we not recycle our rubbish not ourselves without the Chinese?

[@AmCanTech]

Roughly nothing. Zero zilch...

[@tonywong898]

this is solution of plastic scrap recycling but it is the value after recycled

[@frankierogers428]

What I love most about this is that it gives a necessary boost to the economies that need it most. States like West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio need these jobs to boost the quality of life in these states as well as making the US stronger. I hope that President Trump can focus on these industries and boost those states with these industries as oppose to factories and mines. It doesn't matter what method of work they get so long as that method is strong enough to put decent bread on the table for people in economically deprived states. Also Michigan can do this instead of cars.

[@ladwigs]

Just force manufacturers to provide a recycle for their items

[@habibbialikafe339]

They already do, it's reg ppl that don't

[@oscarlagunas6858]

they really used the home depot song 😂😂

[@MusicIsBestDrug]

oscar laguna time stamp?

[@editorrbr2107]

I guess we’re not going to get into the fact that it was a soft power, political play more than anything, right?

[@gregelliott5016]

We need more M.R.F's in the U.S.

[@barbaraeastwoodcoombs7321]

Wow, they do not have enough forests, so they are exporting ours in the form of pulp! That has to be a motivator for reducing & recycling. Let's pass a law similar to SB1016 in California that measures Garbage per Capita. Measuring the recyclables as a way of measuring diversion is old-school, it does not include reduce and reuse practices. Garbage per capita or in other words garbage per person per day or total tons of garbage multiplied by 2000 ( # of lbs. In one ton), then take this big number and divide it by the population of your city, this final number is divided by 365 & you get the number of pounds of garbage thrown into the landfill per person per day. LOWEST NUMBER WINS!! The average for the United States is 4.5 lbs. Per person per day. What is your city? I would love to know. Shout out to Frisco, Texas at 3.83 lbs Per person per day!! Environmentalbenchmarking.com

[@christinechew660]

It's in the tone, see how she imitates the great leader's pronunciation of Chaina!

[@Pen124OTCLeader]

Now that's what I called recycling!

[@coolmonkey619]

We need to recycle more

[@Cristip]

Feed the poorly...with what ? whit garbage.

[@charleswhite3553]

the lady on the 9:19 doesn't not work there lol

[@gkindustrialmachine1]

I'll take all her junk!

[@breeze787]

Nine Dragon Paper company out of China has opened 3 paper plants in Maine, Wisconsin and West Virginia employing roughly 1500? And they opened a big ass Recycling company? Because China lacks the forestry area to support their paper needs. Wow cool!

[@drteeth7054]

A lot of money is being made in recycling! That is why I object to supplying their raw materials for free. People should be paid for their recyclable waste!

[@jordanlego]

8:31 do you really blame anyone for not wanting our trash?

[@carlabroderick5508]

Make industry responsible for recycling of every one of their products now.

[@JasonBrown-tx4lq]

Interesting video

[@UmmYeahOk]

How much energy and money is wasted shipping this stuff? Why not open refineries and sorting facilities in low income areas in the US, where factories have closed and as a result, people don’t have jobs. The government could step in and help, after all, giving these people a source of income is better than just keeping them on welfare, where they have no chance at getting out.

[@ArthursHD]

The issues here are high property prices, high minimum wage, high taxes, and a lot of regulations. Best option would be to go digital and reduce and reuse packaging. We can give tax exemptions, minimum wage exemptions if we provide efficient low cost housing close to facilitates. Bought facilities and house must be designed with environment in mind.

[@Raylen_Fa-ield]

Last two years I've gained a lot of respect for China. I was born and raized in the usa with a lot of propaganda against China. These days I have shame for my country and it's broken system.

[@nehcooahnait7827]

well I can say the same thing with ‘China’ and ‘USA’ swapping places... the feelings are mutual... but I don’t wanna live in the US or China cuz both countries gave me headaches...

[@MrKirua21]

@Carlos c3rd Born and raiSed in the. good old us of A but can't speak proper english ; -) Cut the crap mate you ain't fooling anyone

[@Raylen_Fa-ield]

@@MrKirua21 I can speak it fine. I never bothered to learn the spelling of words to the degree of an English teacher. I also think people whom focus on spelling overly much, are petulant.

[@Raylen_Fa-ield]

@@MrKirua21 also like 50% of US citizens can barely read or write, with N additional 20% being fully illiterate. Ps sorry my auto correct dude catch all my mishaps you grammar nazi.

[@lightening1296]

Too much demonizing of China in the US.

[@pocarisweet8336]

Wasnt it the US who keep telling china to be greener? Either way I guess this one for the better.

[@Mexican00b]

How China (doesnt) Funds American Recycling (anymore)

[@epictv8845]

They have now landed in Kenya...