Recycling and being "green"

[Flusher]

It used to be:

Now it is:

U.S. exports of scrap paper, plastics, and metals to China have increased at a remarkable pace over the last 16 years. Between 1996 and 2012, the dollar value of U.S. scrap exports to China in real terms increased at a compound annual growth rate of 24%, allowing China to take 47% of the market in 2012, up from 6% in 1996. Over that same period, U.S. scrap exports to all other markets increased by just 5% a year.

In exchange for this:

A sea of newly imported cars fills the 150-acre terminal lot at the Toyota Long Beach Vehicle Distribution Center at the Port of Long Beach. Toyota usually brings in about 250,000 cars a year in biweekly shipments.