American cities used to make money by recycling the waste we as consumers put in those big blue recycling bins, but according to an article in The Washington Post, now cities are paying to keep those recycling programs going.

According to the article, the following factors are to blame:

• falling oil prices, a strong U.S. dollar, and a weakened economy in China have caused prices for American recyclables to decrease worldwide
• the installation of larger blue bins (intended to encourage more recycling) has resulted in more recycled material but also more polluted material (consumers are not required to sort the material before placing it the bins and they sometimes put non-recyclables into the bins), which makes the recycled material less valuable on the open market because it requires more processing to sort
• the decrease in old newspapers, thick plastic bottles, and aluminum cans that for years comprised a greater percentage of recyclables and can easily be baled and reused

Source:

C. Davis, Aaron. (June 20, 2015). "American recycling is stalling, and the big blue bin is one reason why". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-06-21.

Jul 7, 2015:

NPR's The Diane Rehm Show aired a one-hour program entitled "New Challenges To Recycling In The United States".

Diane's guests were:

• Susan Collins, president of the Container Recycling Institute
• Aaron Davis, reporter for The Washington Post
• Sharon Kneiss, president and CEO of the National Waste and Recycling Association
• Tim Croll, solid waste director at Seattle Public Utilities