Recycling

An unexpected and fascinating consequence of the financial crisis that started in America’s cities and suburbs are the hard times the recycling business in China has run into, which deeply affects many low-income people who depend on it for their livelihoods. They can earn a few dollars a day by collecting and reselling trash, but the recent fall in commodity prices is making life much harder for them.

I always thought it was cool how every niche is filled in bustling Chinese cities. Although it’s not ideal to have so many underpaid and undereducated manual laborers, it does make sure everything little service is covered.

Instead of a municipal recycling service supported by taxes in every city, recylcing is largely private and the many people involved make it pretty convenient. Recylcers ride tricycles around residential areas while banging on a pot or chanting to solicit glass, paper, wires, old appliances, or anything else of value.

I often just hold onto an empty bottle when I’m on the street until I find someone carrying a big sack of recyclables and offer it to them. They collect them from trash cans, pedestrians, and pick them off the ground (lots of people litter) and sell it to a recycling center. Around the corner from my house in Changzhou was a store with stacks of cardboard and newspapers that reached the ceiling next to huge containers for plastic, aluminum and glass bottles. After a number of empy bottles accumulated in our house, I’d take them down there and receive some spare change in return (0.25 yuan for a glass bottle, less for plastic). Even if you don’t sell it back or give it to a collector on the street, simply by tossing it in a trash can (recyclable or non-recyclable bins) someone will always come along and fish it out to resell it for a few pennies.