With Global Recycling Challenges Impacting Local Communities, Haaland Demands Federal Action

Washington, D.C. –  With global recycling challenges impacting local communities, Congresswoman Deb Haaland (N.M.-01), and more than 40 Members of Congress sent letters to the Department of Commerce and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging them to take action to address the current recycling crisis being faced in response to China’s “National Sword” policy, which bans the import of various plastics and unsorted mixed papers to China.

In the letter the Members state, “We need a comprehensive solution that focuses on targeted investments in local recycling programs to enhance recycling infrastructure and promotes new technologies for sorting, reusing and converting waste into valuable goods.”

For more than three decades the United States and many other countries have relied on China to accept most of the country’s recyclables, leading to a weak domestic recycling industry. At peak export, the United States had relied on China to accept almost 70 percent of all U.S. recycled goods, and by 2017 China had grown to accept nearly two-thirds of all global plastic waste. Today it imports about one percent of all global recyclable plastics. However, in 2018 China enacted its “National Sword” policy, sharply reducing their import of foreign scrap materials to address environmental concerns and improve its perception among the international community.

In light of this, the United States has the opportunity to create a competitive and profitable U.S. recycling industry. Both the Department of Commerce and the Environmental Protection Agency are mandated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to respond to this recycling crisis. In the letters, the Representatives request the Department of Commerce and the EPA report back to Congress on their current efforts to address this and seek assurances that a national plan is or soon will be in place to manage the fallout created by China’s strict policy.

The letter to the Environmental Protection Agency, signed by 47 Members of Congress, can be found here.

The letter to the Department of Commerce, signed by 45 Members of Congress, can be found here.

These letters are part of Haaland’s efforts to ensure New Mexico remains the beautiful place that New Mexicans are proud of while advocating for policies that reflect a deep connection to the earth and will help protect the environment.