Recycling fail

[gnappi]

Recycling (in S. Florida) heads up.

I put a large garbage bag filled with shredded documents in the recycle bin last week, and the waste company driver took the time to write a note that bagged paper was not to be left in the bin and that it must be dumped in with the rest of the materials and walked it up to my doorway and taped it onto my front door. They not only did not take the bag of shredded paper they did not take any of the rest of the recycle material.

So this week I did as was I was instructed and dumped the shredded paper in the bin and when the hydraulic claw dumped the bin, a huge cloud of shredded material went everywhere BUT the truck!

Well, now it will go to the landfill with the rest of the garbage. Sheesh

 

[eveled]

I think you need to use a paper bag. Same with leaves.

Trash bags are no good for recycling.

 

[gnappi]

Nope, NO bagged paper.

 

[Kevin]

We have lived places before where they get upset about what’s in the recycle container, but so far in Dallas nobody has ever said anything. But we just recycle normal stuff.

I did shred some papers. Few weeks ago and stuffed them in an empty Amazon cardboard box. Then into the great recycling beyond it went.

 

[Conman]

Recycle has always been a joke to make someone feel important!!

 

[hittman]

The great recycling scam ……

 

[eveled]

Nope, NO bagged paper.

The garbage bag was the issue. Paper bag is just more paper.

 

[GunnyGene]

I just burn it out back, or use it for package cushioning. Don't have any 'recycling bins' here.

 

[s4s4u]

Fire is your friend

 

[jimbo1096]

They used to have a recycling program here, but it failed so everything goes in the trashcan. Twice a year they have a big shredding festival where you can bring your stuff in. They’ll throw it into the recycler, but you have to wait in line but that way It’s guaranteed your personal information is secure. I actually burned up a good smoker getting rid of my saved personal documents. it melted part of the barrel and cover screen. Couldn’t use it for cooking anymore.

 

[JohnL]

I burn waste paper and some cardboard in the wood stove.

 

[GasGuzzler]

What's a recycling bin? I put shredded documents in my compost. I use any organic waste from the kitchen too. Makes really good dirt for the garden.

 

[blume357]

The issue with recycling is it is not profitable and there lies the problem. we should not look at it that way but that it is practical in the very long run.
But speaking of the 'long run'... it is all really one more cosmic joke if you actually look at it from a perspective of time.... So, it takes a couple thousand years for plastic to deteriorate in a landfill.... this is just one blink of God's eye.... the real issue is at the rate we are going we are going to have to dig it all up before then anyway unless we just kill ourselves off first. Which at the rate we are going is actually more likely.

 

[pisgah]

When recycling was tried here, they made it so difficult to throw stuff away that the end result was much more dumping in every inappropriate place you can name. Took them about 6 months to cancel the whole deal, and another 6 months to clean up the mess that "recycling" had made...

 

[coach]

The local government that takes care of the trash and recycling here says the plastic bags and shedded paper jam up the equipment.

 

[Danjet500]

Our recycler says "No shredded paper". All paper must be in its original condition. My wife is a stickler for shredding documents that have our names, addresses or other personal information in it so into the landfill it goes.

 

[DGW1949]

So, would someone please explain what evil is going to happen because I don't shred, burn, or otherwise destroy every piece of paper that has my name and address on it, even though it all arrived at my residence after being passed around in public view for days?....Or what tragedy I can expect to befall me and mine should a stranger call on the phone after finding my phone number in the landfill?....And more importantly, let me know how much longer it may be before I'll be visited by these calamities?....I'm asking because in all of my 75 years of living, nothing bad has yet befallen me which originated from a landfill, or for that matter, my own trash can either. I'm afraid that after all that time, surely the end must be near. LOL.

DGW

 

[Lt92]

The great recycling scam ……

Yep...I recycle all the time...in the garbage with everything else...don't have time for this nonsense when upon review, a very small percentage of the waste is actually repurposed and usually costs more to repurpose than to incinerate.
But Prius owners may disagree

 

[Randyzzz]

Our local refuse company has more rules than I can imagine. For recycling, cardboard has to be broken down. No pizza boxes. They finally started accepting cardboard other than the common corrugated stuff. Only plastic containers that have screw on lids are accepted, but be sure to take the lids off first! And no glass!

Going to the "dump" is just as bad. You go into a building and dump your stuff on the floor and they "sort" it with a tractor. There's a list of stuff they won't accept that's as long as your arm.

I miss the good old days when you went to the landfill. Basically a big canyon that they filled with trash and buried. You'd push your stuff out, check out what everyone else chucked, and usually come home with some cool stuff. Recycling at its finest.

 

[Conman]

So, would someone please explain what evil is going to happen because I don't shred, burn, or otherwise destroy every piece of paper that has my name and address on it, even though it all arrived at my residence after being passed around in public view for days?....Or what tragedy I can expect to befall me and mine should a stranger call on the phone after finding my phone number in the landfill?....And more importantly, let me know how much longer it may be before I'll be visited by these calamities?....I'm asking because in all of my 75 years of living, nothing bad has yet befallen me which originated from a landfill, or for that matter, my own trash can either. I'm afraid that after all that time, surely the end must be near. LOL.

DGW

In the past your info was only local and was not on the WWW. Today it gets used world wide on the internet by crooks who know how to use your phone number to order products from any web site located anywhere. They can use your SSN to steal your tax refunds. They can use your credit card number to buy fur coats in Paris. At the least you are stuck getting new cards and resetting all on-line accounts! Just a pain and no one does anything about it!

 

[cleg]

In our recycling bin we use bags that are deemed recyclable. They are blue in color. Probably not ok in some areas. Here in North idaho seems to be ok.

 

[Yaworski]

Our trash company won't take glass for recycling. Glass, like aluminum, is recyclable for eternity. Glass companies love cullet. They claim that glass is dangerous.

On the way home from work, a commercial/industrial trash company has a huge bin for glass. They don't find it dangerous.

Also, the recycling people only want aluminum cans. No pie plates, no foil.

 

[Danjet500]

So, would someone please explain what evil is going to happen because I don't shred, burn, or otherwise destroy every piece of paper that has my name and address on it, even though it all arrived at my residence after being passed around in public view for days?....Or what tragedy I can expect to befall me and mine should a stranger call on the phone after finding my phone number in the landfill?....And more importantly, let me know how much longer it may be before I'll be visited by these calamities?.

It's not just names and addresses. Personal information on medical papers, investment documents, Social Security and bank statements. I realize that most of these transactions are paperless today but some still come by mail. Scammers are out there and they will take advantage of every opportunity to get your money.

 

[WAYNO]

There's even more... After the commission of a crime, the investigators will follow up on any and all trash left at the scene. A robber for example, could have a piece of mail for someone else, commit the crime, drop this piece of mail, and the investigators will waste time investigating that piece of mail.. Slows down the detective process.

Sounds far fetched, but it is not. I have been very involved in a trial where every piece of evidence is saved forever, and definitely investigated, if it ultimately has relevance or not.

Also, I worked in a paper recycling mill for many years. My mill bought curbside recycling, and it's amazing just how many pieces of correspondence are laying on the floors and on conveyor belts, perfectly intact and readable. It's easy to pick up a single piece, know the sender, know the recipient, know their address, know all his account information, and know if he is current on his account. Phone numbers are there, bank information is there, and auto-pay account numbers are there.

I will never put any mail of any kind in the garbage or in a recycle bin without being destroyed first.

 

[blume357]

Our town stopped taking glass too.... seems the other two big cities in S.C. still do and so I can't quite figure it out. Greenville claims the company they send the stuff to started refusing to take glass... my initial thought was just tell them they have to... you are the government.... but it seems that did not occur to the powers that be. We actually pay a company to pick up our glass... owned by some young engineer type who granulated from Clemson and started a business... he 'returns' the glass to sand and sells it to the state to be used in paving roads.... Yep, we pay him to pick it up and then sell it.

As for people getting information from our mail we put in the recycled bin... I still remember being at our landfill dump site and seeing a guy going through some boxes of paper work someone else had just dropped off to be pushed over into the big bin.....

 

[peachhead]

Out here in the sticks, I don't have trash pickup. I have to take my trash to the "convenience center" (a bunch of dumpsters in a central location, guarded by someone working part time). Years ago we used to have separate bins for plastic, paper, glass, and cans. I decided I was going to do the right thing and try to separate my trash. So I did it for a while. Suddenly the other bins disappeared. Turns out we weren't getting paid for the stuff, I think we were actually paying somebody to take it.
So for the longest time we have been split up into two different kinds of bins: household trash, and catch-all. So when I had bags of household trash they went into that bin, and everything else went into catch all. Then I found out that it doesn't matter where you put it it all goes to the same place. So I started putting everything in the catch-all because it was easier.
Now they have brought back a couple of cardboard bins, and they have put up a sign that says all cardboard boxes must be broken down and they cannot be put into the household trash bin, but they either go into cardboard bin or the catch-all; which makes no sense considering the catch-all and the household trash all go to the same place.
So basically when I feel like it, and there's room in the cardboard bin, I will break them down and put it in there. Otherwise, everything goes in the catch-all.
It's all a racket and a pain.

 

[hittman]

My town provided trash pickup for residents. It was paid for by an addition to your property taxes so, only homeowners and apartment owners actually paid.

Then the recycling craze started.

We were given plastic tubs and instructed what could or could not go in them. Corrugated cardboard only, no shirt boxes, yes newspaper and paper sacks, no magazines, yes all glass if you wash it first and remove the lid and label, then no brown glass, then no other colors of glass, only clear. Good Lord it was like having a part time job LOL. And they wanted you to rinse out the soda and beer cans too.

Then new trucks were needed at about $80k each ( in the early 90s I think ) plus 2 new employees per truck at union scale cause they were going to pick up recycle separate from the regular trash. To get that money now you had to BUY your recycle bin or rent it for $3 a month. And now you have to put a STICKER on your trash bag that costs $0.25 each and the bag can't weigh more than 30 pounds.

Then the stickers went up to $0.50 each. Then $0.75 and now the truck are worn out so they added more to your property taxes. Then there's no market for glass so they don't take ANY.

Today you have to DELIVER your bin to a recycling center and walk through the maze of different containers labeled for different items.

Many of us use a private hauler who charges $40 a quarter and takes anything and everything you put in the nice 2 wheel heavy plastic 50 gallon bin they provide at no additional charge.

 

[hittman]

Back when I was doing the recycle thing, I got home from work one day and my recycle bin was gone. I called to tell “City Services”. She told me I was banned from the privilege ( WTH?? ) because for the 2nd week in a row I had put a brown bottle in the bin. Told her I didn’t know they quit taking brown glass and was not notified of the change.

Her answer was “Well, it was in the newspaper.” I told her we don’t take the paper. She replied, “I don’t take it either.” To which I said but yes …. YOU WORK THERE DUMBA$$.

She hung up on me but the next day I had a shiny new bin sitting on the curb.

Sorry …. Rant off.

 

[vito]

I don't know about plastic and metal being recycled, but I know recycled paper and cardboard is critical to many industries. My son-in-law is a chemical engineer who works for a company that makes these enormous machines that take recycled paper material and turns it into new paper products ranging from cardboard to egg cartons and everything in between. The companies that make these containers could not survive without recycled paper products and wouldn't need to buy this multi million dollar machines that my son-in-law sells to them.

And by separating the recycled items from the regular trash I make my wife happy. She feels that we are helping "the environment". I help by using recycled dinosaurs as fuel for my cars and motorcycles, creating carbon dioxide to keep the plants alive.

 

[hittman]

There are a couple of locally owned recycle centers around here.
You take your stuff there and they CHARGE you to dump it.
Then they SELL it for a profit.
Talk about double dipping LOL ….. as a consumer you PAY them for the product they SELL and share none of the money with YOU.