Jose Lopez sorts plastics at ecomaine in Portland last month. Officials say that despite upheaval in the recyclables market three years ago, a market for recyclable materials still exists and producers are still turning used plastics into new items.

Unsorted plastic is dumped by trucks on the ground floor at ecomaine in Portland. The center continues to find markets for recycled materials, helped by campaigns to reduce trash and nonrecyclable materials in recycling bins.

A worker moves bales of cardboard destined to be made into new materials last month at ecomaine in Portland.

Matt Grondin, communications manager for ecomaine, stands in front of bales of sorted plastics at the Portland recycling center in March. He said the China ban in 2018 ended up being "a good thing, in that it forced us to confront the issue of what is — and isn’t — recyclable, and it moved the issue of sustainable waste management to the forefront."

A truck leaves the ecomaine recycling center in Portland last month.

Bales of plastic sit at the ecomaine recycling center in March in Portland. The plastics are shipped to manufacturing plants and turned into new items.

A worker uses a bale of recycled material on a forklift to sweep the floor at ecomaine in Portland in March. The recycling center is capable of sorting 13 to 15 tons of recycled materials per hour.