The economic recovery, modest as it may be, is pumping new life into the American recycling industry.

Since the market for recyclable commodities such as cardboard, plastic and aluminum bottomed out two years ago in the United States, prices have gradually rebounded to the point that companies that trade in recyclables are seeing stability and hope for the future, said Susie Gordon, an environmental planner with the Fort Collins Natural Resources Department in Colorado.

Throughout the recession and price crunch, recyclable materials still were moving, albeit slowly, said Jerry Powell, editor and publisher of Resource Recycling magazine in Portland, Oregon. The magazine tracks recycling trends and markets across the country.

The number of recycling programs across the country increased as communities examined how to deal with their waste streams, he said. But the rate of increase in recycling grew at a slower pace than in the previous 20 years.

The goal of recycling more is going to get harder and more expensive, he said.

"We've figured out how to get the low-hanging fruit," said Powell. "We've done all the suburbs, all the big distribution centers, all the big office buildings. Now we need to figure out what's next."

The key to the recovery and the future of recycling lies across the ocean in China, the largest importer of recyclables from the United States, he said.

The demand for recyclables in China is a reflection of its economic growth and changing society, said Powell. Instead of just importing material, converting it into other products, such as tennis shoes, and exporting them, the Chinese are shipping more products internally.

"It's a remarkable how much the situation has changed with the growth of a middle class in China," he said. "They need our stuff so they can sell tennis shoes to their own people."

Nationally, the recycling rate in 2008 was about 33 percent, or 82.9 million tons of material, according to Resource Recycling. The highest recycling rates were for materials in general circulation, office type paper, steel cans and aluminum cans. The lowest rates were for glass containers and low-grade plastics.

The country still throws away about $6.5 billion worth of materials that could be recovered every year, according to Resource Recycling.

(Source: Recycling market rebounds [Coloradoan])