Are you/we really recycling?

[hrodbert696]

But that's exactly the point. The goal of recycling is to convert the recyclable waste to something useable. If there is no product, of if it costs too much to be done, it won't e done.

And one thing that occurs to me about the recycling-trucks-dumping-in-landfill stories is whether this is happening as a matter of regular practice with no intent ever to recycle, or is it a temporary decision that will change based on current conditions? For instance, if the recycled-materials company has an overstock of product awaiting customers to buy it, and their facilities are full, they may have to tell their drivers just to dump whatever additional material they collect until the existing product gets sold and space frees up. That's unfortunate but it's not a scam.

 

[Das Jugghead]

The drummer for one of my former bands drives for a waste service and told me that Indianapolis dumps garbage and recyclables together into the same land fill - yet we as homeowners have specific cans for trash and recyclables.

 

[Turbo Sparky]

What many of those clothing collection bins actually go to are companies that convert it into rags for the food service/hotel industry. Almost all of it is bought and shipped overseas to be processed, then sold back to companies in the US. I know a gentleman who has made a fortune doing exactly this. He said it’s because the chemicals involved are mostly illegal in the US. Guess which country is more than happy to take on the task?

Fabrique aux Chine?

 

[friskinator]

Yes it happened here for multiple months when the recycling plant we were shipping to closed. The county kept collecting it and burying it w/the trash (w/o telling us). When the press found out, there was a big stink. The county built their own recycling plant at the land fill, and now we are not burying it. As I understand it, the main problem is we are too stupid to properly sort our trash (lots of trash mixed in with the recycled materials) making it less valuable, or worthless. We used to have 2 recycling roll-offs just outside our subdivision, but they discontinued them because of the a-holes using them to dump their garbage.

At every place I've lived with a community recycling collection spot, I've seen stupidity and laziness at its worst. Pizza boxes with half eaten pizzas in them (hello, rats), plastic bottles full of undetermined liquids, ginormous cardboard boxes not broken down, old furniture, and straight up household garbage. The property management at our last residence explicitly told residents to not put glass in the recycling area, but of course, nobody paid attention.

People can't seem to handle the simplest directions for doing it properly. If the majority of what comes in to the centers isn't recyclable because of human incompetence, why should the centers bother?

 

[pie_man_25]

But that's exactly the point. The goal of recycling is to convert the recyclable waste to something useable. If there is no product, of if it costs too much to be done, it won't e done.

It's a problem, it's kinda why it's the worst and best thing about capitalism. On one side, pop-tarts are pretty cool, on another side, waxing cardboard boxes in a way that makes them unrecyclable is pretty crap. If people went out and petitioned against waxing cardboard, unsanitary plastic containers, and packaging reduction, it would potentially contribute towards recycling and waste reduction (which I'd argue is better than recycling in the first place). But, this is a very macro solution and would probably just help in places where waste actually is being recycled, figuring out how to make recycling profitable in areas where it presently is not remains an issue.

 

[Ironbar]

So, everything I'm about to post is anecdotal. I'll grant that right out of the gate.

NONE of what I'm posting is political. And please don't take it there!

I was hanging out at my father-in-law's store this past weekend. A guy came in to get a snack. As soon as he walked in my father-in-law said "Hey man. Tell him (pointing to me) what you told me the other day."

Turns out this guy is a "sanitation engineer" (or whatever the least offensive term for a garbage collector is these days).

He told me a long story, the gist is which is as follows.

Every day when their garbage truck gets full, they go to the landfill to dump it. They have to get in line with other trucks. In their area, the recycling trucks are in the same line with the garbage trucks..... and they dump their loads into the SAME PILE AS THE GARBAGE.

The "recycling" isn't going to any processing plant where the divide it up and actually send it to places that will do something with the stuff we're cleaning, peeling labels off of, and collecting for weeks at a time.

He also said that he "has it on good authority" that it's happening all over the country in pockets. He said he "knew for sure" that the Raleigh/Durham/Cary/Chapel Hill area of NC was doing the same thing. (His words, not mine. I have no idea.)

I'm posting here to see if any of you k ow anyone who works in your area sanitation departments. I would he curious to know how many people THINK they are recycling when they're not. Out here in the burbs, we have to use a private garbage collection company ("sanitation engineering firm"?). I plan to call them and ask point blank. We actually pay extra for a separate wheeled bin to collect the stuff in. They only pick up recycling every other week in my neighborhood. Seems we're all signed up for the service (which is voluntary) because the streets are lined with recycling bins on recycling day (which is different from trash day).

Have any of you heard this in your area? If it's true, is there any way (other than repurposing) to ACTUALLY recycle stuff?

I'm no tree hugger. But I think it's silly to throw away anything that can be kept out of landfills. I even compost with a neighbor who grows a vegetable garden. Throwing away food scraps is even more of a waste to me. If it's just going to rot anyway, that rot should be used for something. I would rather throw an apple core into the woods than into a garbage can. At least there, it returns to the ecosystem.

I'm happy to discuss ways to be a better earth buddy in another thread. But I would really like to stick to the subject at hand here.

Are you sure your recycling is actually being recycled? If it isn't, is there anywhere to take recycling that it actually would be recycled? What would you do if you found out your "recycling" was being dumped into the same pile as your garbage?

Again, NO POLITICS PLEASE. IT'S NOT JIST A RULE HERE AT TB, BUT IT KEEPS THINGS CIVIL. And there's simply no good reason to drag it in here. Thanks.

I get changed for the stuff I put in my garbage can. I am NOT charged for all the stuff I put in my recycle bin. Due to all the stuff I recycle (for free) I was able to switch to a much smaller garbage can and pay less money.

If all the stuff I put in the recycle bin went to the same spot where they dump the garbage, then where's the profit or motivation for my waste company to NOT charge me for all the stuff in the recycle bin?

 

[two fingers]

The last couple of towns I've lived in didn't have municipal trash pickup or mandatory anything - you can pay a private hauler, or take your bins over to the transfer station yourself. I make the transfer station run on Saturday mornings. There's a separate recycling building (the former town was sort-your-own, where I live now is single-stream) from the trash building and both towns elected to create these structures because the recycling was a way to recoup money rather than dumping in landfills. The sort-your-own facility actually posted the $-per-pound of each type of material and urged us to drink beer from cans rather than bottles because the town got more money for metal than glass.

It stretches credulity to think that some company is paying the town for its recyclable material only to turn around and dump it in landfills. I don't doubt that there are many places where, the way the system is structured, the kind of scam @two fingers described is happening. And clearly there's the issue of matching the material with manufacturers who can use it, which will never be exact (and I understand is particularly difficult right now). But maybe the better way to think of it, in the big picture, is as an efficiency problem - what percentage of material we try to recycle actually gets recycled, and then what can we do to improve those percentages? It will probably never be 100%.

I also agree with the issue that you can't put all the onus on the retail customer, you have to have more responsible behavior on the production side, especially as regards packaging. It really struck me when I bought a volleyball net last summer; it came in a box with the components all wrapped in plastic and padded with styrofoam. If I had a choice, I wouldn't ever touch styrofoam, and I certainly wouldn't go to a store and say, "I need to buy me some styrofoam today." The stuff is noxious. But I literally have no idea where I would buy a volleyball net that WASN'T packed in styrofoam, and even if there were more than one option of net in the store, there's no way I would have known that THIS model was packed in styrofoam but THAT one was packed in, say, something biodegradable. I'm not allowed to make a free choice as a consumer because I don't have the options and I don't have the information I would need, if I wanted to make a styrofoam-free purchase.

If NOTHING else is being done, a positive trend seems to be less freaking PACKAGING on many items. I remarked to Mrs.Fingers the other day while putting away groceries that a dozen or so products we bought had printed on the package something like "Now with 33% less packaging".

Sure, it's not a quick "solution". But it seems to he a trend in the right direction.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Yes, I take this very seriously.

I wash and reuse plastic forks, knives and cups all the time.

Why wouldn't you? You can probably get about 10 uses out of something plastic before it breaks.

Every time I see those nature documentaries about all the plastic in the ocean, I want to cry.

Mike

 

[two fingers]

I get changed for the stuff I put in my garbage can. I am NOT charged for all the stuff I put in my recycle bin. Due to all the stuff I recycle (for free) I was able to switch to a much smaller garbage can and pay less money.

If all the stuff I put in the recycle bin went to the same spot where they dump the garbage, then where's the profit or motivation for my waste company to NOT charge me for all the stuff in the recycle bin?

I can only speak to my situation. We pay an additional fee for a recycling container and pickup.

In your case, I can see where it would possibly cause a crap storm to announce to the public that recycling is no longer taking place. So, it may just a cost of doing business to keep going through the motions of picking up recycling to avoid horrible publicity.

Or, they might actually be recycling.

Sometimes protection from a dramatic loss of profit is more important than actually earning more profit.

 

[two fingers]

And one thing that occurs to me about the recycling-trucks-dumping-in-landfill stories is whether this is happening as a matter of regular practice with no intent ever to recycle, or is it a temporary decision that will change based on current conditions? For instance, if the recycled-materials company has an overstock of product awaiting customers to buy it, and their facilities are full, they may have to tell their drivers just to dump whatever additional material they collect until the existing product gets sold and space frees up. That's unfortunate but it's not a scam.

In the case I mentioned earlier, it's a case of no longer recycling..... until further notice. In other words, they just don't do it anymore.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Yes, I take this very seriously.

I wash and reuse plastic forks, knives and cups all the time.

Why wouldn't you? You can probably get about 10 uses out of something plastic before it breaks.

Every time I see those nature documentaries about all the plastic in the ocean, I want to cry.

Mike

Or rather than that, stop using plastic cutlery...

 

[friskinator]

If NOTHING else is being done, a positive trend seems to be less freaking PACKAGING on many items. I remarked to Mrs.Fingers the other day while putting away groceries that a dozen or so products we bought had printed on the package something like "Now with 33% less packaging".

Sure, it's not a quick "solution". But it seems to he a trend in the right direction.

I completely agree with the concept of reducing packaging, but unfortunately, much of retail marketing and store placement depends on packaging. Which often requires being excessive in order to attract eyeballs to the shelves. I'm sure a lot of manufacturers (and retailers) would not be open to changes in packaging if it results in less sales.

I'd like to see less unnecessary products on shelves in general. Do we really need an avalanche of St. Patty's Day decorations in stores every single year? How about New Year's Eve garbage? Valentine's Day tchockies? All that crap goes straight to the landfill the day after it's used. I feel like eliminating just ONE of those would go a long way with combating waste, but I'm sure plenty of people would take offense at cutting out decorations for their favorite holiday. Don't worry - I wouldn't dare touch Christmas. Revolt would ensue.

Oh well. If the ecosystem eventually collapses, at least we got to have St. Patty's Day decorations.

 

[hrodbert696]

Yes, I take this very seriously.

I wash and reuse plastic forks, knives and cups all the time.

Why wouldn't you? You can probably get about 10 uses out of something plastic before it breaks.

Every time I see those nature documentaries about all the plastic in the ocean, I want to cry.

Mike

The ocean trash is an example, though, of how we can have such a huge misperception of the real issues. A friend of mine was sharing some data on the Pacific trash field. People talk about it, and share a picture of a sea turtle with a straw up its nose, and say we all need to stop using plastic straws. But the reality is that half the plastic in the ocean is broken and damaged commercial fishing nets and another quarter or so is other fishing industry paraphernalia (bobbers and debris from buoys and whatever). Sure, for retail consumers to use fewer disposable straws is great, for what it's worth, but it's not how you're going to make a significant dent in the actual problem.

 

[klejst]

I do, I'd like to think I am and doing good. One thing I have noticed is it seems more and more glass is being phased out and more plastic is being used. Plastic, cardboard, etc.

 

[hbarcat]

I've heard that ever since they issued those blue recycle bins/cans/toters. It's a money-losing venture by the time it has to be sorted, stored, re-made into whatever, etc. And adding to that process is getting rid of all the non-recyclable stuff that gets tossed in the recycle bins. Too much work and too little reward.

It depends on what specifically is being recycled. Aluminum is very valuable and it's easy to separate from other trash.

Glass is a problem because it breaks so easily and it needs to be separated by color - clear, green, brown, and other.

Plastic is a giant pain in the butt because there are 6 common types plus several less common types of plastic that all need to be separated from each other.

Paper is similar. Newspaper, cardboard and several other types of paper also need to be separated. Also, paper is easily contaminated where it can't be cleaned and must be disposed of.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Or rather than that, stop using plastic cutlery...

Absolutely, but if that's all that's available at say, a company picnic or barbecue - wash the stuff!

I prefer to use a metal fork only. If I have to cut something, I use the fork.
I am part neanderthal.

Mick

 

[Downunderwonder]

I get changed for the stuff I put in my garbage can. I am NOT charged for all the stuff I put in my recycle bin. Due to all the stuff I recycle (for free) I was able to switch to a much smaller garbage can and pay less money

I wonder if that is common and contributes to the problem of non recyclables going in the ''free'' bin?

 

[Downunderwonder]

The ocean trash is an example, though, of how we can have such a huge misperception of the real issues. A friend of mine was sharing some data on the Pacific trash field. People talk about it, and share a picture of a sea turtle with a straw up its nose, and say we all need to stop using plastic straws. But the reality is that half the plastic in the ocean is broken and damaged commercial fishing nets and another quarter or so is other fishing industry paraphernalia (bobbers and debris from buoys and whatever). Sure, for retail consumers to use fewer disposable straws is great, for what it's worth, but it's not how you're going to make a significant dent in the actual problem.

25% is therefore coming from us landlubbers?

As it abrades and gets eaten by smaller and smaller creatures it moves up the foodchain. I believe there's animals with significant faux estrogen problems already.

 

[two fingers]

I get changed for the stuff I put in my garbage can. I am NOT charged for all the stuff I put in my recycle bin. Due to all the stuff I recycle (for free) I was able to switch to a much smaller garbage can and pay less money.

If all the stuff I put in the recycle bin went to the same spot where they dump the garbage, then where's the profit or motivation for my waste company to NOT charge me for all the stuff in the recycle bin?

I completely understand that. If you go back and read my post, you'll see that I "get it".

What I'm saying to you is that if hundreds and hundreds of customers found out they had been cleaning and sorting and peeling labels and whatnot FOR NOTHING they would flip out. So your waste management company might just keep coming around to pick up your "recycling" (even though it COSTS them a little) just for the PR of not letting you find out there's no longer a recycling program. They may see it as a cost of doing business that doesn't hurt as badly as losing hundreds of customers over a crap storm.

I'm not saying that's what is happening. I'm just saying it's plausible.

 

[Eric Perry]

While I'm sure most trash headed to a "recycling center" ends up in the landfill, my fiance and I are very environmentally conscious in most areas. We both religiously recycle (even what happens after it leaves our bins is out of our control, we still do our part), avoid buying plastics when feasible, and generally do what we can. I and we do this not because we buy into most gloom and doom rhetoric we're all being force fed anymore, but simply because it's the right thing to do.