On April 17, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee heard from a number of presenters that curbside recycling faces significant challenges as a result of the change in policies for accepting recycled materials by China and the state’s electronics waste recycling program continues to be broken and should be fixed.
The Committee also heard Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal to take $10 million from the Recycling Fund to pay DEP administrative costs will not help.
Kevin Kraushaar, National Waste and Recycling Association, told the Committee at the national level recycling is broken, not dead, in the United States in part because of changes in Chinese policies on accepting materials for recycling.
"The marketplace has been significantly disrupted," he said, “With higher costs and lower revenues, as well as an increasing proportion of recyclable material being landfilled. It is still cheaper for many companies to use virgin material than recycled.”
He emphasized that consumers and business want to continue recycling.
Kraushaar said nationally, his group is continuing to encourage China to phase in their new requirements which would allow markets to adjust and improve.
He also supported a package of federal tax credits, grants, research, education and regulatory relief to give the recycling industry a better chance to develop better recycling infrastructure and markets.
Doing more to encourage the purchase of products with recycled content would also be helpful.
Kraushaar said it is very important consumers recycle the right things, like paper, cardboard, bottles and cans, while reducing contamination and not putting materials in recycling bins they hope will be recycled.
As much as 25 percent of the material collected is contaminated and cannot be recycled and is going to the landfill. Consumer recycling education has to be an ongoing effort.
He said the markets for recycled materials will recover, but it will take time.
Robert Bylone, PA Recycling Markets Center, provided an overview of recycling in the state and the role of the Center to encourage use of recycled materials as feedstock and for new products.
[Note: The Center estimated last year recycling is a $22.6 billion industry in Pennsylvania.]
Bylone focused on the challenges faced by the state’s Electronics Waste Recycling Program established in the Covered Device Recycling Act which he said needs major revisions.
The collapse of the global market for recycling leaded glass in CRT televisions in particular has resulted in the inability of local governments to recycle a major part of the electrics waste stream. At the same time, state law has a ban on disposing of covered devices in landfills.
[Note: In 2017, the Center estimated there were 5.1 million CRTs and TVs waiting to be recycled in Pennsylvania.]
Bylone said the law sets goals for recycling electronics waste by the weight of new products sold. With the weight of new devices significantly declining, it means less material is being recycled.
He suggested one solution is legislation introduced last session-- Senate Bill 800-- that he believes is a model for the Committee to consider and is equally fair and unfair to all sides on the issue.
When asked if Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal to take $10 million out of the Recycling Fund to help pay DEP’s administrative costs will have an impact, Bylone said, because it supports local recycling program. The $2/ton Recycling Fee generates about $38 million a year, so the proposal would take away a significant portion of the revenue.
Rick Allan, Consumer Technology Association [electronics manufacturers], said it has been a challenge to address all the issues that have come up with the electronics waste program, pointing out there are a dozen or more counties without some form of e-waste recycling.
He said the electronics recycling law has not worked well and has cost the industry over $15 million to implement.
Allan agreed with Bylone the reduction in the weight of new products used as a goal for recycling has resulted in less material recycled.
He said there is still a need to change the electronics recycling law and there has been resistance from the retailers to putting a fee on new products to support the program.
Click Here to watch a video of the hearing. Other written testimony is available from John Desmarteau, Agilyx Corporation, a plastics recycling company.
For more information on recycling, visit DEP’s Recycling In PA and Covered Device Recycling Act webpage.
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-1707 or sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com. Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net.
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