Tens of thousands of tons of recycled materials set aside in American cities and towns that have recycling programs may not get processed anymore, and will probably end up in landfills thanks to a recent ban enacted in China. According to The New York Times, since last summer, China no longer recycles foreign garbage as part of an anti-pollution campaign the country has undertaken. Consequently, some of the recyclable products people separate for pick up could end up in US landfills after all.

According to The Times, some communities have been able to compensate by convincing other countries (like India and Vietnam) to accept our trash or have found domestic waste managers willing to accept their recyclable material for handling. But others still haven’t been able to find a replacement for China. Those that cannot, like Republic Services, direct materials (such as paper) to landfills. Smaller operators have been unable to cope and have their garbage deposited in area dumps.

Interestingly enough, The Grey Lady’s news story is similar in many ways to one The Wall Street Journal published on this very topic during mid-May. Including covering the anti-pollution campaign China undertook that included the ban on foreign garbage. Hopefully, The Times realizes recycling may soon be a thing of the past like The Wall Street Journal initially reported.

Did the environmentalists who pushed for and liberal politicians who enacted these recycling boondoggles really think China was going to allow them to be their dumping ground for all eternity? Do they honestly believe other countries who accept our garbage will not wise up like China did? Recycling programs are in place due to some perceived need to sacrifice for future generations.

In reality, recycling is done out of a twisted notion based on the Catholic doctrine of original sin that from the time people are born they are the reason for planetary degradation and destruction and must sacrifice to the needs of nature as penance for their sin of existing. That includes the mandatory taxes and fees that you are forced to pay in order to subsidize it.