Recycling’s Dirty Secret | Macon News

Macon Georgia News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Aug 17, 2026 · 1m

Your carefully sorted recyclables might be ending up in the trash—yes, really. A Bibb County resident watched in shock as her recycling was dumped into the garbage hopper, sparking outrage and raising a bigger question: why does this keep happening? The culprit? Broken recycling economics and outdated systems. With China no longer accepting contaminated waste, hauling recyclables to distant facilities is costly and often unprofitable. Single-stream recycling only worsens contamination issues. Some cities are experimenting with turning plastic into fuel pellets, but critics say burning waste…