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China Shuts The Door On American Recyclables

Oobspace, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47737380

Maybe you never knew where the stuff from your recycled bin ended up... until the recent news from China. 

China has taken a lot of stuff off the hands of other countries, including nearly half the plastic waste created by the rest of the world. 

Now the Beijing government says too much of the waste was dirty and/or hazardous, and it is closing the scrap window for many items. 

That creates issues for recyclers, like Rogue Disposal & Recycling, and regulators, like the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.  Guests from Rogue and DEQ talk about the issue.   

 

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Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR from 2009 through August 2024. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.
April Ehrlich began freelancing for Jefferson Public Radio in the fall of 2016, and then officially joined the team as its Morning Edition Host and a...