> Rogue, like most recycling companies, had been sending plastic trash to China, but when China shut its doors two years ago, Leebrick scoured the U.S. for buye

> Rogue, like most recycling companies, had been sending plastic trash to China, but when China shut its doors two years ago, Leebrick scoured the U.S. for buyers. So isn't a part of the article only relevant to the US, and other countries which were exporting plastic trash rather than actually recycling/using for derivative products? > Here's the basic problem: All used plastic can be turned into new things, but picking it up, sorting it out and melting it down is expensive. > Recycling plastic is "costly," By now, we should be well enough educated to say: "What do you mean by expensive or costly?" Does it mean... * Costs a lot of money in the current socio-economic order? * Requires a lot of human effort? * Requires a lot of electricity / other form of energy? * Has a high carbon footprint (by some complex figuring)? * Involves a process emitting pollutants? If it's just the monetary cost, then in a sense - that doesn't matter. Just rearrange society so that either this is funded (or a non-monetary economy). If it's energy use - maybe it's worth it and it could be arranged to be done using solar collectors in the desert or whatever. And so on.