Recycling in America • Hacker News Board

Re: Recycling in America

#21

Post by Hobotron1 » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:11 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #11

jobu wrote: post #6

"Most recycled materials should be cheaper than virgin commodities" Surprisingly this just isn't true. It takes a lot of work and chemicals to clean inks and glues out of paper for recycling. Penn & Teller looked into this in an episode of Bullshit! a while back - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rExEVZlQia4 Aluminum and clear glass are very efficient to recycle, plastics and colored glass depend on commodity prices,…

I would believe it. If the problem really is a supply/demand imbalance, the market should correct it. But nobody will pay me for my used plastic bottles.

Perhaps someone better versed in economics can help me here:

isn't this the type of thing where a tax might be useful- for example, a tax on products that use 'new' plastic/glass as opposed to recycled? basically, convert the 'cost' of garbage everywhere into an actual cost?

Re: Recycling in America

#22

Post by matdrewin » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:11 PM UTC

How about making products that actually last?

Re: Recycling in America

#23

Post by matdrewin » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:15 PM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #20

This is the money quote: Coca-Cola committed to using at least 25% recycled plastic in its containers by 2015, but revised this downwards owing to scarce supply and high costs. There is no financial incentive to use recycled goods. They cost more than 'fresh' goods, they require additional processing, they add risk from material contamination (not biologic, structural and chemical). There are a dozen different reason…

Coca-Cola should go back to reusable glass.

Re: Recycling in America

#24

Post by tmoullet » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:15 PM UTC

philfrasty wrote: post #3

Will never forget how I (German) walked into a Safeway in San Francisco with my bag full of bottles and asked the cashier where the deposit-machine is. She had absolutely no clue what I was talking about.

Just about every grocery store in Oregon has those machines. I guess it depends highly state to state. When I was working for a summer in New Mexico, I was somewhat appalled how the waitresses at restaurants would collect beer bottles from tables and toss them into the trash.

Re: Recycling in America

#25

Post by JonnieCache » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:15 PM UTC

ptnapoleon wrote: post #10

JonnieCache wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I have to pay extra to recycle, which I do not think is correct. what. Who's charging you? Local government?

In many municipalities, they contract trash and recycling collection out to private companies. Many times those companies charge separately for recycling collection.

They do that here (UK) too. It's still the local govt that's paying the bill though. I guess that's why we have seemingly high municipal taxes, they're 'all inclusive.'

It's funny, the waste management people in our town are still unionised out the wazoo, and they're in deep with the labor party so they keep going on strike to put pressure on the incumbent greens. It's really not a good advertisement for the labor movement.

Re: Recycling in America

#26

Post by lfowles » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:16 PM UTC

Title feels pretty clickbaity/inflammatory, but the article title is merely "In The Bin".

Re: Recycling in America

#27

Post by pimlottc » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:17 PM UTC

matdrewin wrote: post #23

ChuckMcM wrote: post #20

This is the money quote: Coca-Cola committed to using at least 25% recycled plastic in its containers by 2015, but revised this downwards owing to scarce supply and high costs. There is no financial incentive to use recycled goods. They cost more than 'fresh' goods, they require additional processing, they add risk from material contamination (not biologic, structural and chemical). There are a dozen different reason…

Coca-Cola should go back to reusable glass.

That's got its own issues vs plastic: weight, costs, breakage...

Re: Recycling in America

#28

Post by slantyyz » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:18 PM UTC

ptnapoleon wrote: post #10

JonnieCache wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I have to pay extra to recycle, which I do not think is correct. what. Who's charging you? Local government?

In many municipalities, they contract trash and recycling collection out to private companies. Many times those companies charge separately for recycling collection.

Where I live -- Markham, Ontario, Canada -- trash and recycling are contracted out. Outside of what we normally pay for property taxes, those costs are not visible to residents of my city.

We have no limits on what we put out for blue (recyclables) bin or green (organic) bin waste (collected weekly), and since we've switched to clear garbage bags, the only limit on non-recyclable garbage (collected bi-weekly) is that you have a limit of four non-transparent shopping bags within your bagged garbage.

We reached an 81% diversion (from landfill) rate in 2013.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08/15/markham_shines_as...

Re: Recycling in America

#29

Post by pixl97 » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:18 PM UTC

jobu wrote: post #6

"Most recycled materials should be cheaper than virgin commodities" Surprisingly this just isn't true. It takes a lot of work and chemicals to clean inks and glues out of paper for recycling. Penn & Teller looked into this in an episode of Bullshit! a while back - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rExEVZlQia4 Aluminum and clear glass are very efficient to recycle, plastics and colored glass depend on commodity prices,…

>then put that paper in landfills

Shouldn't it be able to be downcycled cheaply? Like shredded paper products for things like insulation and other filler?

Re: Recycling in America

#30

Post by joshuapants » Thu, Apr 23, 2015, 4:19 PM UTC

jobu wrote: post #6

"Most recycled materials should be cheaper than virgin commodities" Surprisingly this just isn't true. It takes a lot of work and chemicals to clean inks and glues out of paper for recycling. Penn & Teller looked into this in an episode of Bullshit! a while back - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rExEVZlQia4 Aluminum and clear glass are very efficient to recycle, plastics and colored glass depend on commodity prices,…

> paper is just a terrible idea to recycle

It's a bad idea to make paper the way we do now in the first place. Pulping and bleaching is energy intensive and involves a bunch of not-so-friendly chemicals resulting in a bunch of pollutants.

Omitting the bleaching would help, or at least finding a different way to do it.