“A motto has been ‘With every massive challenge comes opportunities,’” Hickman said. “These bans from China have been a wake-up call and an opportunity for the city to do things in a better way.”
Up until late-2017, China had recycled approximately half of the planet’s plastics and paper products that had been tossed into the garbage, but last year China announced it would no longer be “the world’s garbage dump” and banned the import of many recyclable items from foreign nations. The move sent cities around the globe into a tailspin over how to keep previously exportable recyclables out of landfills.
That included Boise, but shortly after the ban took effect Jan. 1, local officials announced they had been working on plan for months to solve the plastics problems, allowing Boiseans to recycle more items than ever before.
“This is an innovative solution that allows us to turn a bad situation into something quite positive,” said Boise Mayor Dave Bieter in January.
Starting in August 2017—well before China’s announcement—the city of Boise and Republic Services, which collects Boiseans’ waste, quietly partnered with Renewlogy, a firm that processes plastics into commercial biofuel based out of Salt Lake City. The partnership has been facilitated by a $50,000 grant from Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, and the Keep America Beautiful initiative. The city will take on the rest of the cost of the program.
City officials said, at least for now, there would be no additional fees assessed to Boiseans as a result of the switch, leaving the orange plastic bags as the most visible reminder that their recyclables will no longer be shipped overseas, and will instead be converted to fuel closer to home.
Residents will, however, have to learn new habits for using the orange bags. Items allowed in the bags include plastic bags and sleeves; plastic dinnerware; bubble wrap and other packaging materials; plastic food packages; foam items like bowls, cups and plates; and plastic dairy tubs and their lids.
Those items should be lightly rinsed of food and other contaminants, and allowed to dry before being placed in the orange bags.
“We’re hoping that shift turns that from contaminants to fuel,” Hickman said.
Meanwhile, other changes are coming to the rest of the recycling bin: In addition to paper products like magazines, newspapers, office paper and mail; metals like aluminum and steel cans; flattened cardboard boxes; and a limited number of plastic items including detergent and milk jugs, and soda and juice bottles may also be placed directly into the blue bins. Some items will not be allowed into the bins or the bags: water bottles and hinged-lid or “clamshell” containers; those should henceforth be placed in trash bins.
To read the full story, visit https://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/orange-is-the-new-boise-city-ready-to-begin-next-stage-in-recycling-plastics/Content?oid=10458009.