4 ms·

I didn't realize that it's cheaper to export used plastic than process it within the country.

by cfarm 7y ago

cronix 7y ago
I'd imagine minimum wage has something to do with it. Plastic is cheap, labor is not. Most west coast states are over $11/hr. Of course that is not a lot of money, but it is when you're paying that labor to recycle pennies worth of plastic. It's not economical because the plastic has to be (mostly) clean of contaminants in order to recycle it without lowering quality too much. So there's also a lot of water involved. Diminishing returns.
- seandougall 7y ago
  According to the article, there's a huge disparity just in transportation costs, before wages even begin to factor in: > Today, Recology, San Francisco’s employee-owned recycling company, pays £230-to-£390 to ship a container of recycled plastic across the Pacific–a fraction of the £2,700-to-£3,100 price tag for transporting that same container across the United States to plastic processing plants that are mostly located in the South, according to Robert Reed, a company spokesman.
  - dillonmckay 7y ago
    Transportation costs most likely include labor costs. I am betting the crew on the container ship do not make US wages. Similarly, why there are no cruise ships that only stop at American ports, so the labor can be foreign. Also, why American river cruises are so expensive.
- RazZziel 7y ago
  If the cost of labour is what makes local recycling impossible, wouldn't automation with AI and robots (or maybe something like plastic-eating bacteria?) be the only possible solution? Of course bypassing the problem by reducing plastic waste is always preferred and so much more elegant a solution, but provided that would need to be done across all the globe, including so many different cultures and governments, and with such poor inherent economic incentives (plastic is still too cheap), I'm not really confident that'd be possible within a reasonable time-frame, or at all. I feel like a breakthrough in recycling technology by a small team and some investors would be much easier to achieve than global alignment in law making and enforcement. Is there anyone achieving significant progress in that area?
  - cfarm 7y ago
    In terms of a political solution, why aren't there some kind of subsidies to these bottling companies for using another material that is more recyclable?
- cfarm 7y ago
  Why is it that labor is cheaper elsewhere?
tonyedgecombe 7y ago
There are plenty of empty containers heading back to Asia, I would imagine it’s very cheap to send plastic there.
- cfarm 7y ago
  Just so counterintuitive that it's cheaper to send something halfway around the world than 5-20 miles away.

I didn't realize that it's cheaper to export used plastic than process it within the country.

by cfarm 7y ago

I didn't realize that it's cheaper to export used plastic than process it within the country.

I'd imagine minimum wage has something to do with it. Plastic is cheap, labor is not. Most west coast states are over $11/hr. Of course that is not a lot of money, but it is when you're paying that labor to recycle pennies worth of plastic. It's not economical because the plastic has to be (mostly) clean of contaminants in order to recycle it without lowering quality too much. So there's also a lot of water involved. Diminishing returns.

seandougall 7y ago
According to the article, there's a huge disparity just in transportation costs, before wages even begin to factor in: > Today, Recology, San Francisco’s employee-owned recycling company, pays £230-to-£390 to ship a container of recycled plastic across the Pacific–a fraction of the £2,700-to-£3,100 price tag for transporting that same container across the United States to plastic processing plants that are mostly located in the South, according to Robert Reed, a company spokesman.
- dillonmckay 7y ago
  Transportation costs most likely include labor costs. I am betting the crew on the container ship do not make US wages. Similarly, why there are no cruise ships that only stop at American ports, so the labor can be foreign. Also, why American river cruises are so expensive.
RazZziel 7y ago
If the cost of labour is what makes local recycling impossible, wouldn't automation with AI and robots (or maybe something like plastic-eating bacteria?) be the only possible solution? Of course bypassing the problem by reducing plastic waste is always preferred and so much more elegant a solution, but provided that would need to be done across all the globe, including so many different cultures and governments, and with such poor inherent economic incentives (plastic is still too cheap), I'm not really confident that'd be possible within a reasonable time-frame, or at all. I feel like a breakthrough in recycling technology by a small team and some investors would be much easier to achieve than global alignment in law making and enforcement. Is there anyone achieving significant progress in that area?
- cfarm 7y ago
  In terms of a political solution, why aren't there some kind of subsidies to these bottling companies for using another material that is more recyclable?
cfarm 7y ago
Why is it that labor is cheaper elsewhere?

tonyedgecombe 7y ago

There are plenty of empty containers heading back to Asia, I would imagine it’s very cheap to send plastic there.

cfarm 7y ago
Just so counterintuitive that it's cheaper to send something halfway around the world than 5-20 miles away.