Why aren't we recycling more?

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Originally Posted by StevieC
We do pretty well in Ontario in most places with Plastic, Cans, Bottles, Styrofoam, Carboard and Organic waste recycling curb-side.

We do really well on that in Maryland, too. But most of it goes to "clean topfill" layers in the dump, instead of real recycling.
 
I think I read that Denmark was buying trash from neighboring countries for their trash to electric plants. Denmark had done such a good job with recycling that they don't have enough trash for their trash to electric plants.
 
Originally Posted by hatt
Metal and other valuable stuff is still recycled at a high rate. I can put anything metal out on the road the day before trash comes and scrappers will scoop it up.

Like everywhere, we have scrappers that collect anything metal too but I'm not sure that equates to the metal being recycled "at a high rate". These folks are doing it for income and while the scrap yards are always taking material, the price they offer goes up and down. When the prices are down, that means demand for metals is lower. The scrappers really don't have the ability to stockpile their collection in hopes that the prices will go up.
 
I wash and dry all my containers that go into the recycle bin; they look like spotless new containers when I'm done.

As a reward for all my efforts to make the containers easy for them to recycle; they send me a bill for it.
 
Originally Posted by Kestas
As far as recycling of plastic, I'm curious what is done with the plastic. Where is the market for recycled plastic? I hear smatterings of it being used in plastic lumber and automotive interiors, but that doesn't nearly cover the amount of plastic collected.

When it comes to recycling, we not only have to address collecting material, but we also need to find uses for the material. Metals have been easily recycled for around 100 years. I've heard stories that some places simply have a well-sorted landfill.


A well-sorted landfill might be a good idea until we figure out how to truly recycle the stuff.
 
Originally Posted by Kestas
As far as recycling of plastic, I'm curious what is done with the plastic. Where is the market for recycled plastic? I hear smatterings of it being used in plastic lumber and automotive interiors, but that doesn't nearly cover the amount of plastic collected.

When it comes to recycling, we not only have to address collecting material, but we also need to find uses for the material. Metals have been easily recycled for around 100 years. I've heard stories that some places simply have a well-sorted landfill.

Polypropylene underwear and other clothing.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by Kestas
As far as recycling of plastic, I'm curious what is done with the plastic. Where is the market for recycled plastic? I hear smatterings of it being used in plastic lumber and automotive interiors, but that doesn't nearly cover the amount of plastic collected.

When it comes to recycling, we not only have to address collecting material, but we also need to find uses for the material. Metals have been easily recycled for around 100 years. I've heard stories that some places simply have a well-sorted landfill.

Polypropylene underwear and other clothing.

That's traditionally where lots of clear PET went since recycled wasn't always considered food grade. Seriously, a lot of goes into making polyester fleece fabrics. However, a lot more is going back into food grade PET.

Polypropylene is actually quite recyclable. I'm not sure what's done with "other" unspecified plastics. From what I've heard, polystyrene isn't one of the harder plastics to recycle.
 
I gave up recycling. It's all just a scam for a huge headache. Do you think sorting your trash means it goes directly to a recycler? Not even close only a small percentage is ever reused. All trash is sorted recycling or not also. After touring some recycling and refuse plants I said screw it. I gave up and worry about other things like trash not blowing around my neighborhood recyclable or not.
 
Originally Posted by Bud
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
Not worth the hassles.


This

Same here. It's just the wife and I. We don't recycle because we have little to nothing to recycle. It's not worth the effort. We don't drink soda or alcohol, so that eliminates most anything in an Aluminum can or 2 liter plastic bottle. And we buy minimal junk. Nothing left. For the last 22 years we've been here, I use my blue recycle bin to store my pool chemicals in. Works great.
 
Originally Posted by hatt
I have no idea why we are not burning the paper in power plants vs dumping it in landfills. It's a crop just like corn or watermelons.


Because people who don't understand stuff are always experts on it when it comes to standing in it's way...

Oz is in the midst of the debate, and the ones who should be supporting it are fighting it all the way....
https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.a...PTsdYeY2f9U5xzcu5uwGVDdYeD9wg7yyImuS_7Oc

RDF (refuse derived fuel) contains the plastics (chlorine containing plastic removed, lowers dioxins), unrecyclable papers, rags, wood and the like, reducing landfill volume considerably.

As to the "biodegradability" referred to in the article, decomposition creates methane, which is around 30 times more active as one of those gasses not to be discussed.

Here, recently we got reverse vending machines for cans and bottles, 10c each...42 years ago, in South Australia, it was 5c...us kids would clean up at the cricket, literally, as guys would give you their beer can, AND their pie wrapper....throw out their garbage, paid a can.

We've got one recycling bin emptied fortnightly, and a rubbish bin...plus some other recycling options around town.

I recycle excess cardboard by part burning it to charcoal for my own "terra preta" soil amendment, and we compost.

Harvest rainwater for the garden.
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
One reason is somebody has to pay for it all. It is more expensive to recycle aluminum than mine new.


Got some facts and data for that ?

New Al involves digging up huge amounts of red dirt, purifying it, then placing it in arc furnaces and blasting it with electricity until it yields it's oxygen up (and fluorine and all sorts of stuff) to become Al metal.

recycling they can just melt it again.

I personally can't believe that virgin Al is cheaper than remelted Al...but happy to be convinced otherwise is you can provide the data.
 
The county mom and dad live in has a recycling deal that they pay for with their taxes.. whether it's used or not. The can is picked up bi weekly.

The county we bought our house in has nothing. There's a recycling facility in town, but I believe it costs money to use.. I can see why people don't do it.
 
Originally Posted by Patman
Here in Ontario, recycling is a big part of our life, we have separate recycle bins that get picked up on garbage day and just about every fast food restaurant has a separate bin for recycled goods. But I find when I travel to the US I rarely ever see that and I wonder why.


Having waste going into a recycling bin, and having it actually being recycled and used again are two entirely different steps in the process.

Not sure what happens in Ontario, but I have researched the issue in my neck of the woods. It appears that we may be lucky if half of the stuff that goes into our recycling bins (which are everywhere, including separate garbage pickup days for recycling bins) ends up actually being recycled and used again. Sorters manually go through the stuff and pull out only the objects that clearly have commercial value. The rest ends up with all of the non-recyclable waste. These are facts, not conjecture on my part.
 
Interesting about aluminum. Few months ago I got curious about the can vs bottle argument, as I do like beer on occasion, and it seemed that the various green articles I came across indicated a tie. I wasn't so sure about it, but I couldn't argue either way. I thought melting glass took a lot more energy than melting aluminum, plus the extra shipping weight; but all the articles talked about the energy cost of making virgin aluminum. What I didn't know was that they coat the inside of aluminum cans with plastic, just a thin layer, to prevent interaction.
 
Originally Posted by 53' Stude
I just t don't get why so much stuff we waste. I was watching some stuff from WW2 era and back then they wasted NOTHING. Not even tinfoil or bacon grease


The people in WW2 era were no better it just turned out to be a supply and demand issue going on. Currently there is little demand for consumer waste however in WW2 era a ton given lack of supply.
 
If Aluminum is cheaper refined from bauxite. Why is bauxite mined in Jamaica shipped to Iceland to be refined? Iceland has excess juice from geo thermal production. Where are used AL cans recycled?
 
When I moved into my house the city had a sticker/cart program for garbage and took recycling for free. As a single person, I don't generate much actual trash as compared to recycling so I made out like a bandit; I'd put one bag with a sticker out every 5-6 weeks and a full recycle bin every week. A couple of years later, the city added a fee for recycling to our water bills. I wasn't thrilled my free ride was over, but it was reasonable and I got over my "free ride" coming to an end.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago - the city decided that everyone had to get a cart and the trash hauler would not pick up stickered bags unless they were overflow from a full cart, so my costs for a service I rarely used almost quintupled. People complained and the city and hauler justified the change to make things more efficient for the hauler and pointed out that it cost them the same to run the truck down my street whether they stopped to pick up my lonely bag or not.

So I don't bother recycling any more since "it costs the same" whether I do it or not. I no longer have to waste time and water washing containers.

And both cans go out religiously whether they have anything in them or not - they're worried about their fixed costs and didn't take into account the variable cost of actually stopping the truck, deploying the arm, and then starting to move again when they stop at my place.
 
It takes less energy to make diesel fuel from #2,4,5,6 plastics than it does from crude and the process is 98% efficient by weight. It also creates far less pollution than recycling or making fuel from crude.

Quit making #1 & 3 plastics and just spend 10 cents of energy to pyro it into diesel

Heck the device that makes plastic into fuel is a countertop appliance in Japan they think nothing more of it than the trash disposal in the sink.

http://www.blest.co.jp/eng/

Seems like a no brainer
 
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