61–70 of 77 posts
This is also heavily influenced by oil prices - if oil is cheaper then plastics made from it are cheaper but the collection / cleaning / processing costs for recycled materials aren't nearly as volatile. I'm pretty sure recycled metals don't have the same issues.
I have to pay extra for recycling in my town. However, if there wasn't a bottle bill, it would likely be free, as the recycling companies would gladly take all recyclables in exchange for the aluminum cans.
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…
where you could hire anyone from students, to sex-offender ex-Cons, to the mentally impaired ... Are you suggesting forced labor camps even for mental patients and other disadvantaged groups in society?
Not all mentally impaired people; there is of course a spectrum.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or a mix of both: start charging (more) for waste disposal but make recycling pickup free.
I'm no big fan of taxes and big govt.
Taxes are a cost of doing business. Tax breaks and incentives is unearned income.
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…
There are humans involved in various stages, but it's technology that will lead to higher quality, lower price recycled goods particularly as machine sorting makes it easier for consumers to contribute their waste into the system.
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…
Most of the sorting of recycling these days is done by an array of very clever machines, that use e.g. computer vision and blasts of air, or various physical properties to separate out materials. There are humans involved in various stages, but it's technology that will lead to higher quality, lower price recycled goods particularly as machine sorting makes it easier for consumers to contribute their waste into the s…
"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,…
That episode of Bullshit kinda missed the point, IIRC. Energy consumption is an important thing to pay attention to, but the point of recycling is about not taking more stuff out of the ground .
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of the sorting of recycling these days is done by an array of very clever machines, that use e.g. computer vision and blasts of air, or various physical properties to separate out materials. There are humans involved in various stages, but it's technology that will lead to higher quality, lower price recycled goods particularly as machine sorting makes it easier for consumers to contribute their waste into the s…
That sounds interesting, any links?
"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.
In California and some other US states, you can sell them, though this is in part due to a redemption fee charged when you buy them. Here's a price chart from this year (price per pound):
Aluminum Cans - $1.59 Glass Bottles - $0.104 #1 PETE Plastic Bottles - $1.16 #2 HDPE Plastic Bottles - $0.59 #3 PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) - $0.56 #4 LDPE Plastic Bottles -$2.03 #5 PP Plastic Bottles - $0.60 #6 PS Plastic Bottles - $5.69 #7 Others Plastic Bottles - $0.31 Bimetal - $0.35
This is profitable enough that crews of people come around to steal curbside recyclables in many California cities [1].
[1] http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Battle-brews-over-raiders...