National Sword – Effective January 1, 2018 Effective January 1st, 2018 China has placed a ban on Mixed Paper and Mixed Plastic grades that are excessive in contamination. This is sending shockwaves through the industry, instilling a new focus on quality.

National Sword (cont.) Update December 18th, 2017: Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), has submitted comments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), in response to notifications made by China. Align contamination percentages with ISRI Specifications. Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), has submitted comments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), in response to notifications made by China. Asking to suspend the implementation of import restrictions until January 2022.

Quality Issues Domestic Paper Mills (customers) require less than 2% tolerance on contamination. Exports (China) standards are changing to less than 0.5% contamination.

Statistics 2017 Avg Residue: 13.27% Curbside Commingle Recycled: ~60,000 tons annually Tons of Residue Processed (incl bags): Est ~8,000 tons/year Cost to Process Residue: Est ~$30,000/month or over $360,000 annually.

Statistics (cont.) 2015 v. 2017 Avg Residue: +1.82% Steadily increasing residue rates in the curbside recycling programs and forcing MRF’s to focus on inbound quality and community education.