That's one reason your garbage is "free".
The recycling business has gone from a profit center for municipalities to an expense. China used to take much of it, particularly paper/cardboard, and then they abruptly stopped taking it several years ago. That put the squeeze on brokers and municipalities. Vast quantities of recycle quality board went to landfills, and then a good number ceased operations, filed bankruptcy and/or sold at liquidation prices....many to the (pick your expletive) Chinese. Once they had this side of the operation, they control what they'll pay.
For the stuff that does make it overseas, the U.S. is polluting the world. Remember all the lawsuits and cleanups for battery recycling, such as Interstate Lead in Leeds? Much of that is overseas, in Africa, and the environmental havoc being wrought there is terrible. Then it's returned, mixed with other sources and the battery companies here can plausibly deny. Same with plastic, electronic components, etc. We've pushed our recycling, in a number of ways, into jurisdictions that look - environmentally - like the U.S. in the late 19th century through the fifties.
Yet we are running headlong into water and energy disasters with the consumption that will occur from these data centers. Producing nothing, just depleting our resources and jamming our costs in rural areas, all so someone can conjure a fricking singing teddy bear video.
At times, I so want a half or full section, ringed with hills where I have my own drainage basin, and just let me go be.
