CAPE MAY – At its work session May 7, Cape May City Council heard a presentation by Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) Executive Director Joseph Rizzuto concerning the realities and costs associated with recycling. The presentation provided added context for the rising costs that this year led the city to move recycling in-house after substantial increases in bids from outside firms.
According to Rizzuto, municipal solid waste in the U.S. in 2016 amounted to 9.7 million tons, of which 4.3 million tons were included in recycling efforts. Since the mid-1980s, when recycling began in earnest across the country, foreign markets absorbed a large portion of the nation’s recyclable materials. So much was shipped overseas that recycling materials represented the nation’s largest export item by volume.
With China, by far the largest market for such materials, sharply reducing the amount of material it would accept, seeking eventually to end the practice altogether, Rizzuto said the old “business model is broken.” This is leading to sharp and sudden hikes in municipal expense.
Rizzuto emphasized that efforts are underway to develop new markets and better technology for dealing with recyclables. Key to those efforts is greater citizen education on contamination and more reliance on sustainable materials.
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