Local governments and the recycling industry are taking steps to encourage waste prevention, reduce contamination of recyclable materials, and improve post-collection processing, all in response to China's National Sword policy, according to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). The export of baled recyclable materials is a key component of California's recycling infrastructure. China had accepted a significant amount of the recyclable materials shipped from California since 2000, as the shipping cost is relatively inexpensive and prices offered are relatively high. About 62 percent of all the recyclable material generated in the state goes to China, according to CalRecycle estimates. Starting on May 4, China stopped accepting any imports of recyclable materials from the US for one month.