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The issue is that the cost of running a recycling route is largely fixed - one truck, one crew, one day to run the route. That’s balanced out by selling the car
by URSpider94 6y ago
The issue is that the cost of running a recycling route is largely fixed - one truck, one crew, one day to run the route. That’s balanced out by selling the cardboard that is collected to a recycling plant. If half of the cardboard goes missing, then the cost stays the same but the revenue drops by half. The municipality is going to have to make up that shortfall by raising taxes or increasing the charge for trash/recycling hauling.
- sli 6y agoThey're being beaten by a competitor.
- rvnx 6y agoWell, the waste collectors will recalculate the price with more transparency and start sorting the lower value items instead of putting everything inside a landfill. Then they will create a spin-off with more efficient people dedicated to collect "precious" trash.
- serjester 6y agoI think that's a perfectly valid point. At the same time it seems like the incentives are misaligned. I imagine most cardboard getting recycled is from large distributors, not individuals, so maybe they should be getting rebates on their trash bills. But implementing that might be a nightmare so maybe you're right. It's just hard to fault someone for performing a public service.