Chicago Recycling Centers Receive Hard Economic Hit

Chicago’s Resource Center, the non-profit organization that runs a number of community recycling centers on the North and South sides, may be forced to cut back on the recycling of certain materials in order to compensate for dwindling revenues.

The buyback rate of cardboard and newspaper at Chicago recycling yards has dropped drastically from the summer, when a ton sold for about $120. Now a good day brings in only about $20 a ton.

“October was a horrendous month for recovered paper recycling,” said Mark Arzoumanian, editor in chief of Official Board Markets, the weekly industry standard for recycled paper trading.

Much of the decline is a result of China’s decreased demand for recycled material, which started just after the Beijing Olympics, said Mike Mitchell, executive director of the Illinois Recycling Association. As production was halted for the games, Chinese recycling factories were still ordering recycled materials, amounting to a surplus once the Olympics were over and production resumed.

The Chinese are predicting economic growth in the coming year, which will hopefully help pull companies out of their slump.