Roanoke to boost spending to keep recycling program

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - A Virginia city is boosting spending so that it can keep its recycling program going.

The Roanoke Times reports that the city council has approved almost doubling what the city pays a struggling company that provides recycling services.

The council voted to increase city payments to Recycling and Disposal Solutions from about $300,000 a year to about $525,000. The company says it has struggled to sell recyclable materials and has been operating at a loss.

The recycling market has been in upheaval since 2018, when China stopped accepting lower-grade recyclables. That left many communities in the U.S. without a market for the low-grade, mixed recyclables they were producing.

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Information from: The Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com