Recycling Programs Suffer As Global Recession Drives Down Prices

The worldwide economic downturn has badly hurt waste recycling programs across the U.S., as plummeting demand for recycled materials has drastically lowered prices, left waste materials piling up in warehouses, and forced some municipalities to scale back their recycling programs. The New York Times reports that both governments and private companies involved in recycling have been affected by the recycling recession, which has caused prices for recycled paper to fall on the West Coast from $105 per ton in October to $20 to $25 today and for the price of tin to plunge from $327 a ton in early 2008 to $5 a ton. Most municipalities are continuing their recycling programs because it remains cheaper to recycle waste than dump it in landfills, but some counties are calling on residents to stockpile their own plastic and metals until prices rebound. Perhaps the biggest reason for the crash in recycling is the economic slump in China, whose industries are the largest buyers of recycled paper, metals, and plastics from the U.S. Many U.S. recycling companies are now warehousing recycled materials in the hope that prices will rise in 2009.