Recycling & REusing

Christmas Tree Lights (DQ 1) Not in US… …but in China Need financial incentives for recycling Labor is cheaper Fewer regulations High overhead Reuse for production U.S. ‘harvests’ lights Copper in wiring, electronics Plastics for local markets ¤

US v. China Harvesting (DQ 2) Gov’t coordinated Not gov’t coordinated Where economic incentive Waste collected down line Cost effective to sustain Have after-market Make profit Reuse when possible Need after-market ¤ Must be easy

China’s Recent Policy (DQ 3) Biggest to almost none Green Fence, then National Sword (1/1/18) Env. policy pollution, dirty shipments Corruption World’s dumping ground Foreign v. domestic trash  still same view of harvested stuff Basel Convention (1989) Regulates e-waste, not plastics Norway +20 want more reg; most others don’t ¤

China’s Recent Policy (DQ 3 cont.) Consequences Bankrupted businesses in China GN stuck with waste Pushed exports to SE Asia Move to processing pellets in source country Chinese investment in GN More GN investment Push to rethinking recycling ¤

Recycling Lie & Plastic Pollution (DQ 4) Producer-created problem consumer burden Single-use plastics MNC campaigns Created NGOs Undermine federal laws State laws Bottles & bags Need realistic approach Onus on producers v. consumers Circular economy model ¤

Repairing Stuff (DQ 5) MNC-owned repair shops can’t handle demand Planned obsolescence ‘Right to Repair’ mvt. Consumer demand; gov’t policies Lack of instructions write manuals Lack of repair parts push MNCs to supply parts Loss of repair people ¤

Recap U.S. harvests for recycling; does some recycling GS better reusers Global shift due to China Producer-created plastics pollution problem Need top-down, not bottom-up approach ¤