It only gets recycled if someone buys the material to use it for something else. If not, it gets dumped in a landfill with the rest of the planet’s trash.

For decades, China had been one of the U.S.’s biggest buyers for recycled materials, but as of 2018, the Asian superpower stopped importing various papers, plastics and metals in an effort to reduce pollution.

According to a New York Times article from May 28, “Your Recycling Gets Recycled, Right? Maybe, or Maybe Not,” some domestic waste removal companies are sending more recyclable materials to landfills.

Joe Fusco, vice president of Casella Waste Systems, the Vermont-based company that provides garbage and recycling pick-up for many areas in the North Country, said China changed the market, but it’s really taken more of a toll on mixed paper and scrap metal than plastic.

“It was a global disruption for mixed paper,” he said, “and it has been a significant challenge for the past 12 to 18 months, but we’ve been able to find new markets in places like India and Vietnam.”

It’s not a black-and-white scenario. Just because China isn’t taking it, it doesn’t mean it has to go to a landfill.

“China changed the economics,” Fusco continued. “The value has dropped, but it’s still marketable. The question now is ‘is recycling sustainable?’ That’s what people are afraid of and has local governments worried over budgets. ‘What’s the return on investment?’ Companies like ours are interested in protecting investments and local facilities.”

Despite being plastic, Fusco said single-use bags don’t belong in the recycling bin.

“They can be recycled,” he said, “and a lot of supermarket chains have recycling for plastic bags. We don’t recycle them because they wreak havoc and get tangled in machinery, and there’s really no market for that type of plastic.”