Athol Daily News: Recycling needs to go dual-stream to adapt to changing demand

Athol Daily News published a fantastic opinion article that analyzes some of the big changes in the recycling industry, particularly with China becoming stricter about what sort of recyclables it will accept. They recently increased the required purity level of paper recyclables to 99.5%, which is too high for many single-stream recycling plants. The solution? Switching to dual-stream, which separates paper from other recyclables made of metal, plastic, or glass. This helps to reduce contaminants like food or chemicals from affecting the paper.

KIRO 7: State cautions on recycling certain plastics as market slims

This piece covers the recent announcement from the Washington State government to various counties to consider not recycling certain plastics in light of China's recent refusal to take on more recyclables. This move also seems to be the result of declining prices for plastics, thanks to lower oil prices.

The Seattle Times: Amazon investing $10 million to boost U.S. recycling rate

In other Seattle news, Amazon recently announced that it will invest millions into the Closed Loop Fund, a business effort to increase recycling by providing funding to civic and corporate waste management initiatives. This is a 4-year old effort that offers affordable loans to governments and businesses that are working on recycling. The investment is expected to divert about 1 million tons of recyclable material from landfills to recycling.

The News Tribune: Tacoma coffee drinkers - Don't toss that cup in the trash. City says there's a better way

The Tacoma government is attempting to reduce nonrecoverable items from reaching the landfill. These types of products currently make up 34% of the waste deposited, and the government hopes to divert 70% of the solid waste by 2028. As part of this effort, they are urging local coffee shops and restaurants to switch to reusable to-go cups for orders that are not to-go. If you are interested in following this initiative, follow the following hashtags: #BringYourOwnMug #BYOmug #WasteFree253

The News Tribune: Here are some tips for upping your recycling game in Tacoma

Another informative article from The News Tribune for Tacoma residents! Check this one out if you want to learn more about how you can recycle effectively, including changes to guidelines.