What Happens Now That China Won't Take U.S. Recycling

Re:What Happens Now That China Won't Take U.S. Recycling by daxfohl on Saturday March 09, 2019 @01:26PM (#19347596)

So does this mean that recycling is not necessarily even a net gain for the environment? It's all just because it is (was) cheaper?

I mean, if it's really not having an impact on e.g. rainforests etc, and adds the environmental toll of all the petroleum used to ship it all back overseas and the recycling process, might it even be a net loss for the environment?

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Re:What Happens Now That China Won't Take U.S. Recycling by maroonedanchor on Saturday March 09, 2019 @03:27PM (#19348284)

Part of it was to legitimize producing it in the first place. Plastic bottle production does not seem so bad when the new evil is throwing it away vs. recycling. We shifted the onerous onto ourselves instead of the producers.

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