3 ms·

> pulling cans out of recycling bins That's illegal in my area, and I assume in most areas with recycling programs. You want to pick up stray cans and recycle

> pulling cans out of recycling bins That's illegal in my area, and I assume in most areas with recycling programs. You want to pick up stray cans and recycle them then that's one thing, but pulling them out of recycling bins is considered theft.

wang_li 8y ago
It’s kind of funny. The waste management firms worked with the city to require recycling. So now every home has to pay an additional fee for a recycling bin plus pick up. And of course the management company only wants to be in this particular business if they can sell the materials on to someone else. As soon as China stopped buying our recyclables WMNW started asking the city for permission to just stick everything in a landfill. I am required to sort my trash, compost, and recyclables. I’m supposed to wash and peel labels. I have to pay to have it picked up. The least that should happen is that the waste management company be required to actually recycle this stuff.
- bonesss 8y ago
  See... we've known for ages that recycling is a bit of a losing proposition: otherwise we'd get paid for our used TP rolls like we do with aluminium cans. The distribution of labour in this case makes the economics even worse. The scenario you describe is a (I'm guessing, you're on HN), well-paid highly education citizen literally washing garbage before throwing it out, and paying for the privilege of an inefficient disposal system that requires routine intervention... I think an end-to-end total cost accounting wouldn't look too favorable.
  - southern_cross 8y ago
    Penn and Teller (of all people) actually covered the recycling situation in detail some years back, so in spite of the fact that I myself am a conscientious recycler I know that a lot of this is probably wasted effort. But in my situation it effectively doubles my weekly waste disposal capacity, which I've used to great effect over the years. BTW, our local recycler doesn't require a lot of effort on our part, nor do they have a lot of restrictions on what we try to recycle. No food scraps, no plastic bags, and no styrofoam, but that's about it. Also no washing, no label removing, and no sorting on our part. Penn & Teller Bullshit! - (2-05) - 205 - Recycling https://vimeo.com/216389085 https://vimeo.com/216389085
AnimalMuppet 8y ago
Theft from whom? From the house/apartment, or from the recycling company? Also note the decision that law enforcement could go through peoples' trash cans on the curb, because... I'm not sure the exact legal reasoning. But if the reasoning is "because it's not their property any more, it's the trash company's", well, did law enforcement get permission from the trash company? Somehow I doubt it.
phil248 8y ago
This happens all over San Francisco. If it's illegal, it seems to be completely unenforced.
- schoen 8y ago
  Definitely unenforced and definitely illegal. https://www.recology.com/recology-san-francisco/faq/ https://www.recology.com/recology-san-francisco/faq/

wang_li 8y ago

It’s kind of funny. The waste management firms worked with the city to require recycling. So now every home has to pay an additional fee for a recycling bin plus pick up. And of course the management company only wants to be in this particular business if they can sell the materials on to someone else. As soon as China stopped buying our recyclables WMNW started asking the city for permission to just stick everything in a landfill. I am required to sort my trash, compost, and recyclables. I’m supposed to wash and peel labels. I have to pay to have it picked up. The least that should happen is that the waste management company be required to actually recycle this stuff.

bonesss 8y ago
See... we've known for ages that recycling is a bit of a losing proposition: otherwise we'd get paid for our used TP rolls like we do with aluminium cans. The distribution of labour in this case makes the economics even worse. The scenario you describe is a (I'm guessing, you're on HN), well-paid highly education citizen literally washing garbage before throwing it out, and paying for the privilege of an inefficient disposal system that requires routine intervention... I think an end-to-end total cost accounting wouldn't look too favorable.
- southern_cross 8y ago
  Penn and Teller (of all people) actually covered the recycling situation in detail some years back, so in spite of the fact that I myself am a conscientious recycler I know that a lot of this is probably wasted effort. But in my situation it effectively doubles my weekly waste disposal capacity, which I've used to great effect over the years. BTW, our local recycler doesn't require a lot of effort on our part, nor do they have a lot of restrictions on what we try to recycle. No food scraps, no plastic bags, and no styrofoam, but that's about it. Also no washing, no label removing, and no sorting on our part. Penn & Teller Bullshit! - (2-05) - 205 - Recycling https://vimeo.com/216389085 https://vimeo.com/216389085

AnimalMuppet 8y ago

Theft from whom? From the house/apartment, or from the recycling company? Also note the decision that law enforcement could go through peoples' trash cans on the curb, because... I'm not sure the exact legal reasoning. But if the reasoning is "because it's not their property any more, it's the trash company's", well, did law enforcement get permission from the trash company? Somehow I doubt it.

phil248 8y ago

This happens all over San Francisco. If it's illegal, it seems to be completely unenforced.

schoen 8y ago
Definitely unenforced and definitely illegal. https://www.recology.com/recology-san-francisco/faq/ https://www.recology.com/recology-san-francisco/faq/