This is dismaying, and I wonder if something similar is happening in other countries?? Video is 18 minutes but well worth the time.
I read an article that indicated that much the same is occurring here. Despite the advertising hype, cities and states only recycle when it's profitable. Otherwise, it goes into the landfill.
@Beth Gallagher I’m Australian This is true as reported on 60 minutes I’ve seen the recycling bins being picked up at the same time as general rubbish bins so it’s all mixed together ,as China will no longer take our rubbish ( we are not permitted to add veggie scraps or any green waste in the general waste bin ) Only dry stuff ,so 99% of our rubbish go’s in the recycle bin We live in a tiny town of 3.500 people and we pay $2.050 .00 a year in council rates to have out rubbish collected well I’m sure the rates we pay go towards paying the extremely high wages for the council employees as well We don’t have much in the way of facilities to warrant being charged such high rates oh wait we have a library but anything we want copied costs us .50 cents a sheet ..if we want to go to,the rubbish dump which is all huge bins that costs us $25 for a small level trailer ( it costs us and extra $10 if over ) We have to go to,the dump once a year (two trips) after pruning our dozen or so fruit trees The actual change for recycling on our rates is $512 a year, the same cost for the newly constructed sewage recycling water plant which we don’t use as we have a septic system we paid for So we as home owners in South Aust are paying the price of others mistakes The recycled water go’s to water the nearby Greg Norman 9 hole golf course which went into bankruptcy so the remaining 9 holes were never completed
@Kate Ellery Kate--it does seem like a big mess, and I imagine many more countries are dealing with the same. I was pretty shocked to see the garbage being shipped from Australia to Malaysia, though...and not sure why Malaysia should have to deal with such a huge problem as a developing country.