6 ms·

I wonder if sorting could be made feasible by mandating color-coding of different types of plastic? Like PET has to be clear, HDPE white, PP green, etc.? Mark

by ardy42 6y ago

I wonder if sorting could be made feasible by mandating color-coding of different types of plastic? Like PET has to be clear, HDPE white, PP green, etc.? Marketers and package designers may not like it, but whatever. The tiny little recycling symbols seem pretty useless, unless you force consumers to hand-sort their recyclables according to them.

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
> The tiny little recycling symbols seem pretty useless, unless you force consumers to hand-sort their recyclables according to them. It gets worse: in King County, WA (Seattle metro area) where WM has most of the contracts we received leaflets from WM telling us to ignore the plastic recycling symbols entirely and to use only WM's "what we can / can't recycle" picture chart - which includes things I didn't think were recyclable (stained pizza boxes) and excludes things that I'd think were recyclable (plastic films). ...and the list varies within the county too: some cities' leaflets say not to put any pizza boxes in recycling (even completely clean ones). Aieeee.
- aidenn0 6y ago
  Plastic films can be recycled in theory, they just can't be put into sorting machines, as they tend to gum up the works. If you had a big box of just PLA films, you could recycle it just like any other hunk of PLA, but getting to the big box of PLA films is not feasible.
  - dragontamer 6y ago
    Another issue with film is that its too lightweight to be worth the hassle. The economics of recycling is that objects are paid per pound. 1lb of steel is pretty easy to collect. In contrast: 1lb of plastic film, even if its theoretically recyclable, is infeasible to sort and recycle with an economic profit. Aluminum foil is another one: my local recycling does NOT accept Aluminum foil. Aluminum is one of the "best recycling" materials too, but foil is just too small and lightweight to be worth the hassle.
    - a1369209993 6y ago
      You can work around that somewhat by crumpling aluminum foil up and shoving it inside aluminum cans, although that might not be worth the hassle either.
    - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
      Sardonic idea. Put the prison population to use. Let them sort it. No sorting? No food! kthxbaiii
- Thorentis 6y ago
  Where I am, pizza boxes are put in the green bins (eg along with garden clippings) since they end up being composted and used in council landscaping tasks/sold etc. You can also put used tissues, paper towels, and so on in the green bin.
  - Scoundreller 6y ago
    It's possible they just do this with all paper products in some areas. If demand for recycled paper isn't high, it's easier to have some cities sort carefully for high-value recycling, and other cities mix in greasy paper/towels/tissue since it's all getting shredded into compost anyway. I've been composting paper this year. It makes a good sub for peat moss (which is not very renewable!).

by ardy42 6y ago

DaiPlusPlus 6y ago

> The tiny little recycling symbols seem pretty useless, unless you force consumers to hand-sort their recyclables according to them. It gets worse: in King County, WA (Seattle metro area) where WM has most of the contracts we received leaflets from WM telling us to ignore the plastic recycling symbols entirely and to use only WM's "what we can / can't recycle" picture chart - which includes things I didn't think were recyclable (stained pizza boxes) and excludes things that I'd think were recyclable (plastic films). ...and the list varies within the county too: some cities' leaflets say not to put any pizza boxes in recycling (even completely clean ones). Aieeee.

aidenn0 6y ago
Plastic films can be recycled in theory, they just can't be put into sorting machines, as they tend to gum up the works. If you had a big box of just PLA films, you could recycle it just like any other hunk of PLA, but getting to the big box of PLA films is not feasible.
- dragontamer 6y ago
  Another issue with film is that its too lightweight to be worth the hassle. The economics of recycling is that objects are paid per pound. 1lb of steel is pretty easy to collect. In contrast: 1lb of plastic film, even if its theoretically recyclable, is infeasible to sort and recycle with an economic profit. Aluminum foil is another one: my local recycling does NOT accept Aluminum foil. Aluminum is one of the "best recycling" materials too, but foil is just too small and lightweight to be worth the hassle.
  - a1369209993 6y ago
    You can work around that somewhat by crumpling aluminum foil up and shoving it inside aluminum cans, although that might not be worth the hassle either.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
    Sardonic idea. Put the prison population to use. Let them sort it. No sorting? No food! kthxbaiii
Thorentis 6y ago
Where I am, pizza boxes are put in the green bins (eg along with garden clippings) since they end up being composted and used in council landscaping tasks/sold etc. You can also put used tissues, paper towels, and so on in the green bin.
- Scoundreller 6y ago
  It's possible they just do this with all paper products in some areas. If demand for recycled paper isn't high, it's easier to have some cities sort carefully for high-value recycling, and other cities mix in greasy paper/towels/tissue since it's all getting shredded into compost anyway. I've been composting paper this year. It makes a good sub for peat moss (which is not very renewable!).