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The U.S. generates more than 250 million tons of waste a year, and about a third of that is recycled or composted. That is, until last year when China implemented a ban on importing items intended for reuse, ie: our carefully cleaned recycling wired.trib.al/DL0tCIN 1/
Prior to this ban, China had been taking 40% of US recyclables. But now, this trans-Pacific waste route has ground to a halt, leaving cities across the United States struggling to figure out how to dispose of their waste wired.trib.al/DL0tCIN 2/ 
In many cities, the loss of this overseas dumping ground has meant that the plastics, paper, and glass set aside for recycling by Americans are instead being stuffed into domestic landfills or are simply 🔥burned 🔥 in vast volumes wired.trib.al/DL0tCIN 3/
Burning these recyclables in mass quantities risks an increase of plumes of toxic pollution that threaten the largely Black and Latino communities who live near heavy industry and dumping sites in the US wired.trib.al/DL0tCIN 4/
For example: Every day since the ban came into practice last year, about 200 tons of recycling material have been sent to the huge Covanta incinerator in Chester City, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia wired.trib.al/DL0tCIN 5/
Experts worry that burning plastic recycling could worsen the alarming health situation in Chester. Nearly four in 10 children in the city have asthma, ovarian cancer rates are 64% higher than the rest of the state and lung cancer rates are 24% higher wired.trib.al/DL0tCIN 6/
The incinerator in Chester already torches around 3,510 tons of trash a day, the weight equivalent of more than 17 blue whales. wired.trib.al/DL0tCIN 7/
“The unfortunate thing in the United States is that when people recycle they think it’s taken care of, when it was largely taken care of by China… When that stopped, it became clear we just aren’t able to deal with it.” wired.trib.al/DL0tCIN 8/
