11 ms·

Recycling education is awful in America. I made it about 33 years without hearing that take out containers, etc. can’t be recycled.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
It also recently came out that much of the recyclable recycling was and/or is not being recycled anyway, so I doubt any education would have made a difference. I assume all the recycling efforts are simply for political purposes at this point.
- kube-system 5y ago
  It recently got coverage in popular media -- but those familiar with sanitation operations and secondhand materials markets know that recycling has been subject to market demands for those materials for its entire existence. Recycling has never operated outside of the realm of economics. The reasons changes to recycling programs are slow are: 1. People don't pay attention anyway 2. If the price of plastics go way up 5 years from now, you'll never retrain people to recycle again 3. Recycled metals are still valuable
jxramos 5y ago
the problem is the recycling triangle that's imprinted on the containers, the one's showing the material code on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes. Somewhere along the line the recycle triangle had become synonymous with recyclable, but what didn't get communicated is that only certain codes paired with that triangle are actually recyclable.
- soco 5y ago
  So they use the recycling logo to indicate the material, NOT that it's recyclable. I wonder which genius came up with this idea...
- hakfoo 5y ago
  I think that's a doomed plan. It varies from city to city, and even over time based on what they can contract to unload. They try to relay changes, but the messaging is incredibly spotty. At one point they were saying "plastic containers where the mouth is wider than the base" or something like that, rather than even trying to use the plastic codes.
klyrs 5y ago
Some can, if you wash them. Puts a damper in the easy disposal that folks are accustomed to, though.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

It also recently came out that much of the recyclable recycling was and/or is not being recycled anyway, so I doubt any education would have made a difference. I assume all the recycling efforts are simply for political purposes at this point.

kube-system 5y ago
It recently got coverage in popular media -- but those familiar with sanitation operations and secondhand materials markets know that recycling has been subject to market demands for those materials for its entire existence. Recycling has never operated outside of the realm of economics. The reasons changes to recycling programs are slow are: 1. People don't pay attention anyway 2. If the price of plastics go way up 5 years from now, you'll never retrain people to recycle again 3. Recycled metals are still valuable

jxramos 5y ago

the problem is the recycling triangle that's imprinted on the containers, the one's showing the material code on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_codes. Somewhere along the line the recycle triangle had become synonymous with recyclable, but what didn't get communicated is that only certain codes paired with that triangle are actually recyclable.

soco 5y ago
So they use the recycling logo to indicate the material, NOT that it's recyclable. I wonder which genius came up with this idea...
hakfoo 5y ago
I think that's a doomed plan. It varies from city to city, and even over time based on what they can contract to unload. They try to relay changes, but the messaging is incredibly spotty. At one point they were saying "plastic containers where the mouth is wider than the base" or something like that, rather than even trying to use the plastic codes.

klyrs 5y ago

Some can, if you wash them. Puts a damper in the easy disposal that folks are accustomed to, though.