I was in Mexico (baja) last winter and I couldn't believe how much trash is burned there.
I could, of course, believe seeing individuals burning trash out behind their own homes. Piles of tires even. But even after being in Baja for a couple months and driving about 1,300 miles, when I drove by a landfill and they were burning THE ENTIRE LANDFIL, oh man, that surprised me. It smelled SO BAD.
Seperated Recyclables have cash value. If someone back east is burning them, that isn't a trade war issue.
If China isn't buying plastic, plenty of others will, the price is just lower. At some point, it may still be more expensive to recycle than incinerate, but subscribers paid for a service. Any waste company charging for recycling service, and not providing it, would be "encouraged" by activist groups and the legal system.
Remember that to the waste industry, a landfill has value that is diminished by use. Simply finding other places for any recyclable to go can be profitable, even when losing money on the recycling. With the added bonus of showing a loss on the recycling, thus making a very good case for increasing rates at the next contract negotiations. If prices of recyclables rise, profits increase. If not, rates increase. Either way, the company wins. That's why they buy the franchise.
But seriously, consider the source. Going to zerohedge,
reading Tyler Durdin quoting activists. That seems like a filter built to remove objectivity and clarity. You seem to be reading the wrong output of that filter.
In a neighboring community to mine they announced the cessation of curbside recycling a few weeks back (though they subsequently announced it would resume shortly after some pushback from residents). Lack of buyers at a price that made curbside collection viable was the stated reason (residents could still recycle at a transfer station, the landfill, or various commercial places, they just had to transport it themselves. Predictably correlated with degree of DT dislike was how much was blamed on him. I don't know how much from here actually makes it all the way to China. My city has apparently avoided whatever is affecting the neighboring city.