Haven't signed into your Scholastic account before?
Teachers, not yet a subscriber?
Subscribers receive access to the website and print magazine.
You are being redirecting to Scholastic's authentication page...
Announcements & Tutorials
Renew Now, Pay Later
Sharing Google Activities
2 min.
Setting Up Student View
Exploring Your Issue
Using Text to Speech
Join Our Facebook Group!
1 min.
Subscriber Only Resources
Access this article and hundreds more like it with a subscription to Science World magazine.
STANDARDS
NGSS: Core Idea: ESS3.C, ETS1.B
CCSS: Writing: 2
TEKS: 6.2E, 7.2E, 8.2E, E.5F
Article Options
Presentation View
Lexile® measure
Data Analysis
Piling Up
What happens to waste after it’s tossed into recycling bins? It might not be what you think.
ARIC CRABB/DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA/BAY AREA NEWS VIA GETTY IMAGES
AS YOU READ, THINK ABOUT whether you know where your garbage and recycling goes after you throw it away.
In households across the U.S., people set aside newspapers, cardboard, glass jars, plastic bottles, and metal cans to be recycled. You may think all that waste is destined for a local recycling plant. But for nearly three decades, much of it was actually sold and transported all the way to China to be turned into new products. That changed in 2018, when China stopped accepting most plastic and paper recycling from foreign countries. Now, the U.S. and other countries are scrambling to figure out what to do with their waste.
In households across the U.S., people set aside items to recycle. They save newspapers, cardboard, glass jars, plastic bottles, and metal cans. You may think all that waste is headed for a local recycling plant. But for nearly three decades, much of it was sold and shipped all the way to China. There, it was turned into new products. That changed in 2018. China stopped accepting most plastic and paper recycling from foreign countries. Now the U.S. and other countries have to figure out what to do with their waste.
The U.S. produces more than 290 MILLION tons of trash per year.
Before China’s restrictions, it processed half of the world’s recycling. All that junk was usually mixed together and dirty. It needed to be separated and cleaned before it could be recycled. This took so much labor and time that recycling other countries’ trash became unprofitable. “It got to the point where some of it was so dirty, China had to stop the importation of the material,” says Ernie Simpson, a materials scientist at TerraCycle, a recycling company in New Jersey.
Without China to buy their trash, hundreds of U.S. cities and towns have found that recycling is simply too expensive. They’ve resorted to dumping recyclables into landfills or burning them in incinerators, explains Simpson. But there’s hope that China’s policy change could prompt the U.S. to update its recycling infrastructure. Simpson says people can keep trash out of the environment by reusing items and buying fewer things to create less waste in the first place.
Before the change, China processed half of the world’s recycling. All that junk was usually mixed together and dirty. It had to be separated and cleaned before being recycled. This took a lot of labor and time. It became expensive to recycle other countries’ trash. “It got to the point where some of it was so dirty, China had to stop the importation of the material,” says Ernie Simpson. He’s a materials scientist at TerraCycle, a recycling company in New Jersey.
Now hundreds of U.S. cities and towns have a problem. Without China to buy their trash, recycling is just too expensive. They’ve started dumping recyclables into landfills or burning them in incinerators, explains Simpson. But there’s hope. China’s policy change could cause the U.S. to update its recycling methods. Simpson says people can keep trash out of the environment by reusing items. They can also buy fewer things. That would create less waste in the first place.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans successfully recycled 69 million tons of trash in 2018. The graph below shows the percentage of materials recycled by weight.
SOURCE: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
DIG INTO THE DATA: How many tons of paper did Americans recycle in 2018?
Until 2018, the U.S. was the largest exporter of plastic waste, sending it to other countries for recycling. China was the world’s largest importer.
SOURCE: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU; U.S. TRADE COMMISSION; RESOURCE RECYCLING
DIG INTO THE DATA: Describe any trends in the graph before and after China changed its policy on accepting trash from foreign countries in 2018.
Scientists are developing new methods to improve recycling technology in the U.S. and elsewhere. Governments, meanwhile, are working on ways to encourage people to recycle.
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
HIGH-TECH SORTING
Laser scanners and cameras identify recyclable and nonrecyclable materials. Robotic arms sort items faster than a person.
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
In some states, people get paid a small sum when they take items to a recycling center.
© KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE SOURCE
BACTERIAL BREAKDOWN
In 2019, scientists discovered a type of bacterium that can break down plastic. The result is a liquid that can be used to create new plastic products.
DIG INTO THE DATA: Which method do you think would help the environment the most? Why?
The chasing arrows sign on plastic products tells you what kind of plastic the item is made of. Categories three through seven are almost never recycled at U.S. recycling facilities. According to the EPA, in 2018, only about 9 percent of all plastic trash—about 3 million tons—was recycled.
CATEGORY 1
• Soda and water bottles
• Peanut butter jars
• Rope
• Clothing
• Carpet fibers
CATEGORY 2
• Milk jugs
• Non-carbonated drink bottles
• Shampoo bottles
• Cereal box liners
CATEGORY 3
• Credit cards
• Pet toys
• Plumbing pipes
• Garden hoses
• Cooking oil bottles
CATEGORY 4
• Plastic wrap
• Sandwich bags
• Squeezable bottles
• Grocery bags
CATEGORY 5
• Prescription medicine bottles
• Yogurt containers
• Chip bags
• Straws
• Most bottle tops
CATEGORY 6
• Take-out containers
• Plastic utensils
• Packing peanuts
• Egg cartons
CATEGORY 7
• Baby bottles
• Sippy cups
• Large water cooler bottles
• DVDs
• Eyeglasses
• Fiberglass
DIG INTO THE DATA: Which category of plastic would be easiest to use less of? Explain your thinking.
You learned that recycling doesn’t always reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. What else can you do to reduce the amount of waste you produce? Make a plan to use fewer materials that need to be recycled or thrown away. For example, you may think about how you can avoid throwing away items that could be repurposed. Share your plan with your family and try it out!