PHOENIX — It has been six years since the Chinese government enacted a policy that set strict regulations on the importation of low-quality plastics from foreign countries in an effort to improve waste quality, and change the final destination of solid waste.
This decision impacted the U.S. recycling industry dramatically, and the city of Phoenix was no exception.
Phoenix owns two transfer stations that receive waste and recycled materials. The North Gateway Transfer Station is a half mile northeast of the Dixileta Drive exit on Interstate 17, and the 27th Avenue Transfer Station is south of Lower Buckeye Road on 27th Avenue.
Each transfer station has a tipping floor for garbage, and then its own Material Recovery Facility. The MRF consists of advanced machinery, technology and beltways that sort recycleables.
The 27th Avenue Transfer Station has undergone an extensive renovation, which cost about $30 million, but as soon as the equipment is operational there will be a grand reopening estimated to be the third or fourth week of this October.
The 27th Avenue Transfer Station is the city’s original MRF that was opened, and last renovated in the early 90s.
“It was completely gutted, and has been retro-fitted with a lot of really great, high quality technology, optical sorters, AI, robotics, etc.,” said Amanda Jordan, circular economy project manager for the Phoenix Public Works Department.
The improvements help support a more current stream of recyclables. The MRFs were originally built to handle paper and cardboard materials, but today there is higher influx of plastic waste.
China enacted its National Sword Policy in January 2018 banning many plastics from entering the country as waste. Before this, roughly 70% of the United States’ plastic waste was exported to China, according to Jordan.
Before this policy became official, and for the first time in over 11 years, the Public Works Department had started to gradually increase its utility service fees to support operational upgrades to its facilities.
“It was a very stressful time to be working in the space of recycling and waste management,” Jordan said.
“Shout out to our residents, because when we were considering stopping recycling they were very adamant, like, no this is a service that we want, and we will pay more for it. That’s truly what solidified everything for us post 2018,” Jordan said.
Recycled materials are sorted and processed to be compacted into bales so they can be sold to markets in the industry. But those bales needed to be freer from contamination than in previous years. The city’s new policy set the acceptable contamination level of bales from what was originally 10% to 0.5%.
According to Jeff Whitlock, a zero waste analyst for the city, on average 25% of what gets brought into the MRF is contaminated.
Phoenix residents can access the “Recycling Master List” on the city’s website to see a complete guide to what can and cannot be recycled. The city has continued to educate residents about what can be thrown away as it strives to have cleaner material ready for recycling.
“There’s a lot of stuff that’s getting away because it’s collateral damage from when they are taking stuff off the line,” Whitlock said.
City officials say residents can think about the contaminated recyclables as a “waterfall of trash” spilling off of the beltway that connects the MRF to the tipping floor.
Everyday, between both transfer stations, the city takes in approximately 9 million pounds of waste.
“When you go to these facilities, and you see how much waste and recycled material is actually moving. It’s crazy. You realize that it doesn’t actually go away, and there’s a lot more happening on the back end,” Jordan said.
“There is no perfect way to get rid of everything at the moment,” Whitlock said.
In late 2019, the city of Phoenix Public Works Department acquired these landfill samples during renovations of the parking lot Cave Creek Golf …
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