Recycling in your locale

[Donald]

So if you read the newspapers the whole recycling industry is in trouble.

Single stream that got us all to recycle a lot more than we use to produces contaminated material that no one really wants, including China that use to take a lot of it until about a year ago. The USA had been warned by China for many year that it needed to clean up the recycling and get less contamination. The USA ignored the warning. I lot of the current stuff you toss in the recycling bin goes in landfills or is burned.

The companies that pick up recycling also own landfills and they make more money dumping the stuff into their landfills than recycling it.

Some areas are going to dual stream recycling rather than single stream. Many areas have started to put standardized labels on recycling bins and apparently that helps a lot.

People also need to know what can be recycled and what is contaminated. For example, cardboard boxes should be broken down to pieces about the size of a piece of letter size paper, all tape, staples and sticky labels removed or cut away

We still have single stream recycling where I am, nothing has changed except the county charges $50 for a 1 yr recycling permit.

Years ago places had a string of dumpsters for each glass color, metal cans, plastic and cardboard/paper. Maybe time to bring that back, but would people participate?

Of course one solution is to buy less stuff in the first place.

Here is my idea. As part of Amazon Prime I am assigned two 20 gallon tubs. Amazon puts all the stuff I order during the week in the tub and delivers it on Friday. They pick up the old tub to fill it for my next weeks order.

 

[PimTac]

It's good that Amazon is taking some initiative on this subject. They have been found to be a major source of recycled materials, mainly the cardboard.

We will find out in the next several weeks if our local hauler will jack up our rates to continue the recycle program or just cancel it all together. It has gotten that bad. I see the recycle dumpsters in the neighborhood full of non recyclable stuff. Even with education it doesn't seem to matter to some.

I am guessing they will keep the yard waste recycle program.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

If plastic, metal & glass containers do not get recycled, there going into the Land-Fills just as fast as there coming out of the factory / and that is ALOT.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...FAFC4DD4F1668AB3F13&&FORM=VRDGAR
Basically it like having a Land-Fill at the back-door of every Factory. Everything made goes into the Land-Fill.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
I always wash out any containers. My neighbor does not and their recycle container looks like a (dirty) garbage can.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by MasterSolenoid
If plastic, metal & glass containers do not get recycled, there going into the Land-Fills just as fast as there coming out of the factory / and that is ALOT.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...FAFC4DD4F1668AB3F13&&FORM=VRDGAR

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
I always wash out any containers. My neighbor does not and their recycle container looks like a (dirty) garbage can.

In some areas water is an issue also. I let my dog lick clean containers that had food in them. Better than rinsing. (Note: wife hates it.)

 

[xxch4osxx]

I just put everything into the garbage bags and take them to the transfer station every couple weeks. Much cheaper and no wasting time sorting stuff out.

 

[JustinH]

We have a green dumpster and a brown dumpster at my apartment.

Everybody dumps "recycling items" into one dumpster for recycling and the rest goes in brown.

I'm sure it is highly contaminated as I watch people dump pizza boxes in there and other garbage.

 

[twouvakind]

Rumor(the media) has it that some municipalities are just(resorting to) burning recyclables. I'll just keep loading my single stream can(no plastic bags)and hope for the best. If it does get burnt, I hope they hang a pot of water over the pyre to generate steam and spin a turbine.

 

[Chris142]

Here All of it goes in the dumpster. The truck dumps the dumpster and takes it all to the trash place. Dumps it on a conveyer. The 50 or so illegals pick out the recyclables as they pass by on the conveyor. The left over is put back into a truck and taken to the dump.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted by Donald
The USA had been warned by China for many year that it needed to clean up the recycling and get less contamination. The USA ignored the warning.

China warned us about, "cleaning up". Now that's funny right there!

 

[skyactiv]

I have a friend that works for a trash hauler which has the contract to sort recyclables for Columbus, OH.
He says the biggest problem is Columbus provides each house a blue 64 gallon can to put recycles in. Low income neighborhoods
tend to use them as a regular trashcan and put things like used diapers in them and other trash while the better areas tend to do the right thing.

What people don't realize is that recycling extends the life of the landfill. Good luck opening up a new landfill somewhere "not in my backyard".
When you open one it's further away from the big city and you have drivers taking longer to get to it and your trash bill goes up.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by billt460
Originally Posted by Donald
The USA had been warned by China for many year that it needed to clean up the recycling and get less contamination. The USA ignored the warning.

China warned us about, "cleaning up". Now that's funny right there!

Your point is taken but China is or was accepting a huge part of our recycle trash. If the loads are contaminated and not meeting the contract then a decision has to be made. China made it. They don't accept our recyclable trash any longer. It's a market disruption.

For most landfill operations it's easier and cheaper to reroute a contaminated load to the landfill versus spending money to hire sorters plus the equipment involved.

 

[Donald]

When they first started single stream and I saw that the glass would be crushed with everything else I wondered how that would ever work property with millions of chunks of small glass mashed into the cardboard and paper. Obviously it did not.

It's a balance between making it easy for people to recycle so they will, and coming out with recyclable materials that are not contaminated and that companies will buy, or at least take for free.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Your point is taken but China is or was accepting a huge part of our recycle trash. If the loads are contaminated and not meeting the contract then a decision has to be made. China made it. They don't accept our recyclable trash any longer. It's a market disruption.

For most landfill operations it's easier and cheaper to reroute a contaminated load to the landfill versus spending money to hire sorters plus the equipment involved.

They just pass the cost onto the consumer. I pay $54/month for 4 trash pickups per month.

 

[Kestas]

Our community threatens to fine us if we don't put recyclables in the recycle bin.

 

[JTK]

We have been supplied one small recycle bin for about 20yrs now. You can buy more bins or use your own provided it's no more than 4 bins total. I'm sure even when you clean the items, it's still not clean enough for use as is, nor is it sorted as such. The energy and resources uses to clean and sort has got to mostly negate the positive aspects of recycling. I've also seen times when all is dumped into a regular garbage truck, where it's typically a split truck with part garbage, part recycling.

We're allowed up to 8 cans/bags at no more than ~60lbs each. One large item like a piece of furniture, appliance or bundled waste counts as 1 can/bag. They'll pickup tires or car batteries 4x/year and certain electronic waste once/year. We're lucky with all that, but my taxes are higher than a lot of areas.

 

[pezzy669]

This brings up a question that has always been bugging me and please educate me because I honestly do not know.

I recycle - I have a bin in my kitchen for all the aluminum and plastic (our local recycler stopped accepting glass ~2 years ago) and I keep a liner in there so I can just bag it up and toss it in one of the recycling bins for my condo community. I have read that it should just be free poured into these bins and not bagged but cannot find a consensus of whether it is ok to bag up your recycling or you need to free pour it in there. Should I be free pouring my recycling in there or is dropping the bags of my recycle in there ok? This is something seemingly no one can answer.

I recycle everything that I can so trying to do what I can to make sure it gets recycled.

 

[Skippy722]

My HOA fee, and I use that loosely because all they do is manage trash pick up and street lights, only covers a single can. $300 a year, $270 if you pay in full before April 1st. Recycling will cost extra and is not racked onto the HOA bill. $22.50 a month and I can put literally anything out there that I want short of an entire sectional.

I'd recycle if it didn't cost me anything extra. I do at work since we have recycling hoppers all around the plant.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by xxch4osxx
I just put everything into the garbage bags and take them to the transfer station every couple weeks. Much cheaper and no wasting time sorting stuff out.


But landfills are filling it. Best to only send stuff to a landfill when there is no alternative way yo deal with it.

 

[4wd]

We have to drive about 2 miles to the bins … but on the route to shop …
You can combine "wet" materials (bottles/cans) … but paper/cardboard is another bin.

I keep a huge chain in the Z71 bed that doubles as a clump weight for the clear bags …

Folks doing community service hours (probation) have the pleasure to sort it all for selling
(at the county barns)

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted by Donald
Originally Posted by xxch4osxx
I just put everything into the garbage bags and take them to the transfer station every couple weeks. Much cheaper and no wasting time sorting stuff out.


But landfills are filling it. Best to only send stuff to a landfill when there is no alternative way yo deal with it.

Landfills will be a gold mine once someone invents the tech to mine them for profit.