Let them eat post-consumer waste paper

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Recycling is vital to solving current pandemic shortages? I think not.

In the week after Gov. Janet Mills issued a stay-at-home order to help reduce the spread of coronavirus infection, the amount of garbage collected in Portland rose roughly 25 percent from the average of the previous four weeks.

One key reason Mainers are producing more garbage is that many are eating all their meals at home from packaged food items purchased at the grocery store. Demand for paper products and certain canned and frozen food products [which, as of this writing, are not made from paper — ED] has spiked, leaving suppliers unable to replenish those products fast enough to keep store shelves stocked consistently.

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That’s important, [A]ccording to ecomaine, because recycled materials are a vital link in the supply chain for producers of toilet paper, paper towels and the corrugated cardboard boxes used to ship groceries and medical supplies. Kevin Roche, chief executive of the recycling and waste-to-energy nonprofit based in Portland, said ecomaine is providing an essential service.

“It’s critical that facilities such as ours stay operational to help meet the needs of the mills that need our fiber material, (which), in turn, fulfill the needs of American consumers,” he said in a statement. “Ecomaine is taking precautions so that we can remain active, and we urge our member communities, essential businesses and residents to continue recycling.”

In fact, toilet paper is not made from recycled paper, and cardboard is made from clean recycled cardboard and waste wood, not your dirty pizza box, egg carton or frozen pea carton, and certainly not your old envelopes, junk mail and stationery. Truth: according to the NYT, just about everything you’re throwing in that blue bin is mere “aspirational recycling” garbage, and is destined for the landfill.

It’s understandable that a business owner would pull whatever specious claim he can dream up to justify why his operation should continue during the shutdown, but we don’t necessarily have to listen to him. Here’s one person who isn’t:

Not all communities in Maine view recycling as essential. The city of Augusta, for example, recently suspended its recycling operation both at curbside and at the Hatch Hill landfill. In a letter to the city manager dated April 5, Director of Public Works Lesley Jones wrote:

“I, myself, am throwing my recycling in with my rubbish and will continue to do this until we are able to return to normal operations. We are suggesting to residents who call that they do the same. My concern is that we will not be physically able to manage everyone’s recycling once we open back up if everyone saves it and will likely have to landfill the surplus that we cannot handle.”