Much of San Diego’s Recycling Goes to China and Now China Doesn’t Want It

Unbeknownst to most people, about half of San Diego’s recycled material is sent across the ocean to China.

Now, that’s a problem. China no longer wants all of it.

Unless city officials can quickly figure out another way to recycle material, some recyclables could end up in landfills.

In recent months, China imposed new restrictions on recycled material coming from abroad. For the past few weeks, it’s effectively blocked all recycled material sent by the United States.

That is throwing recycling programs across the country into disarray, including San Diego’s.

The city sends about 80 percent of its recycling abroad. Most goes to China.