Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Recession Has US Recycling Industry in Dumpster

Scrap fetching a fraction of the price it used to—if it's not cheaper to send it to landfills

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 8, 2008 8:55 AM CST

(Newser) – With the economy tanking, recyclable material is selling like, well, trash. Mixed paper, which sold for $105 per ton as recently as October, now fetches $20-$25, the New York Times reports. “It’s awful,” said one recycling rep, who says her yard is... Read full story »

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

You need to Log in to Newser to comment. Don't have an account yet? Sign up now!

1 comment

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Miami Face-Eater Identified

Chagas Disease the 'New AIDS of the Americas'

New York Times (Source Grid »)

Global downturn bursts recycling's bubble
Associated Press

Refusing to take 'no recycling' for an answer
New York Times

As prices tumble, recycling stumbles
Columbus Dispatch

Money • Green • US

China • environment • recycling • trash • financial crisis

More Newser Stories

Gray Smog Conceals a Greening China

Green innovator gets unfair rap as environmental offender

(NEWSER) - The world's attitude toward China's environmentalism is "hypocritical and decidedly unfair," writes Fred Pearce in Yale Environment 360—this coming from someone who has "literally held my nose at the foul air." Yes, China's "development zeal" has it doing "the bad things that most of the world does," but it's also the world's leader in green innovation, waste recycling, and alternative energy sources. More»

Britons: New Trash Laws Are Rubbish

Controversial UK measures get tough on waste

(NEWSER) - In the midst of a garbage overload, the UK is cracking down on trash with strict new rules, sparking a backlash among Britons, the New York Times reports. Many areas now pick up trash only biweekly, and accept only regulation amounts. Some reject recycling bins tainted with garbage. In response, some Britons are yelling at trash collectors, stealing neighbors’ bins—and burning their rubbish. More»

Too Many Skyscrapers Often Spells Doom: Barclays

So look out India and China

(NEWSER) - Barclays Capital fears impending financial crises in China and India, based on ... skyscrapers. The tall buildings are linked to such crises, and China and India are building a lot of them, the investment bank explains in its annual Skyscraper Index. A "skyscraper building boom" often reflects "a widespread misallocation of capital and an impending economic correction," the company says in its report. More»

Garbage Cam Airs Dirty Trash Habits

Camera phone posts pictures of garbage on Facebook, encourages recycling

(AP) - Now on Facebook: Your garbage. Or at least, the garbage of five households who signed up for a Newcastle University program that posts photos of every item dumped in one garbage can on Facebook. Hoping to raise consciousness about recycling efforts, it uses a sensor and a camera phone to snap an image each time the garbage can lid shuts. The person who does that is not photographed, and households that participate will be rated on how efficiently they recycle. So far, researchers say it's working. Non-recyclable garbage has diminished in the weeks since the program began. More»

Hong Kong Is No. 1 in Trash

City produces 2,000 pounds per person per year

(NEWSER) - Hong Kong is now the trash capital of the world, producing more waste per capita than any other place, reports Time . The 7 million residents produce 6.45 million tons per year for the honor. The city's waste-heavy ways include a dependence on take-out food, along with all those plastic containers and paper bags used to package it, writes Krista Mahr. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Recession Has US Recycling Industry in Dumpster

Scrap fetching a fraction of the price it used to—if it's not cheaper to send it to landfills

China • environment • recycling • trash • financial crisis

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Gray Smog Conceals a Greening China

Green innovator gets unfair rap as environmental offender

Britons: New Trash Laws Are Rubbish

Controversial UK measures get tough on waste

Too Many Skyscrapers Often Spells Doom: Barclays

So look out India and China

Garbage Cam Airs Dirty Trash Habits

Camera phone posts pictures of garbage on Facebook, encourages recycling

Hong Kong Is No. 1 in Trash

City produces 2,000 pounds per person per year

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?