Reckoning Day: US Cities Burn Recyclables After China Bans Imports

"Residents of cities like Chester, outside Philadelphia, fear a rise in pollution from incinerators after China’s recycling ban

The conscientious citizens of Philadelphia continue to put their pizza boxes, plastic bottles, yoghurt containers and other items into recycling bins.

But in the past three months, half of these recyclables have been loaded on to trucks, taken to a hulking incineration facility and burned, according to the city’s government.

It’s a situation being replicated across the US as cities struggle to adapt to a recent ban by China on the import of items intended for reuse."

Oliver Milman reports for the Guardian February 21, 2019.