5 ms·

Where I live there is a community mailbox for the 60 units in the complex. At the mailbox is a recycling bin where we can put the junk mail. My neighbour take

Where I live there is a community mailbox for the 60 units in the complex. At the mailbox is a recycling bin where we can put the junk mail. My neighbour takes care of the recycling bin and empties it every week. Based on the volume I get and the volume in the bin, I estimate that about half of the units dump the junk mail straight into the bin. I'm sure the rest eventually makes its way into recycling bags at each unit. Personally, I'm convinced that the recycling system as a whole requires a certain base amount of input material to even function and that junk mail serves a useful purpose by providing a good portion of that base amount of input material.

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
I thought everyone knew by now that paper recycling is a scam? It doesn’t happen. Not cost effective.
- gruez 4y ago
  I thought that's plastic?
- Mister_Snuggles 4y ago
  There's a local company that, at least back when this article[0] was written, made insulation out of recycled paper. So some people are at least trying to do something recycle paper. Of course, in this case the collection system is so flawed that it's worthless as an input material. This is a four year old article and Edmonton hasn't changed the recycling system at all. It's still blue bags that get tossed into a truck, compacted, and presumably nothing useful happens. On the garbage side, we now have bins that can be emptied by an arm on a truck and we separate garbage from organics. The organic material apparently gets composted, but I'm not sure what happens after that. [0] https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/its-not-worth-it-edmontons-mixed-recycling-is-garbage-entrepreneurs-say https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/its-not-worth-it...
- twipes 4y ago
  As someone who works in the recycling industry (toilet paper & wet wipes). That's just not true for paper. It it plastic that is hardly recycled... Wood pulp and recycled pulp are both in incredibly high demand at the moment and both incredibly cheap to use. I can't speak for global stats, but here in England, as of 2018, we were importing over $600 million of just recycled paper to use from abroad! [ https://www.statista.com/statistics/490038/eu27-import-value-of-pulp-and-waste-paper-to-the-united-kingdom-uk/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/490038/eu27-import-value... ]
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    I thought paper had to be clean to be recycled, causing a lot of it to be discarded (like used pizza boxes). TIL, thank you.
- dangrossman 4y ago
  64.7% of the paper you put in the recycling bin is indeed recycled.
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    Used pizza boxes?
    - dangrossman 4y ago
      Yes, those too. According to the American Forest & Paper Association, pizza boxes are almost universally accepted by cardboard recyclers. The small amount of cheese and grease in the cardboard bails they buy from recycling programs do not impact the quality of the paper and cardboard manufactured at mills that use recycled inputs. > AF&PA and Industry Partners Aim to Set the Record Straight – Pizza Boxes Are Recyclable, Grease and Cheese Not an Issue https://www.afandpa.org/news/2020/afpa-and-industry-partners-aim-set-record-straight-pizza-boxes-are-recyclable-grease-and https://www.afandpa.org/news/2020/afpa-and-industry-partners...

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago

I thought everyone knew by now that paper recycling is a scam? It doesn’t happen. Not cost effective.

gruez 4y ago
I thought that's plastic?
Mister_Snuggles 4y ago
There's a local company that, at least back when this article[0] was written, made insulation out of recycled paper. So some people are at least trying to do something recycle paper. Of course, in this case the collection system is so flawed that it's worthless as an input material. This is a four year old article and Edmonton hasn't changed the recycling system at all. It's still blue bags that get tossed into a truck, compacted, and presumably nothing useful happens. On the garbage side, we now have bins that can be emptied by an arm on a truck and we separate garbage from organics. The organic material apparently gets composted, but I'm not sure what happens after that. [0] https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/its-not-worth-it-edmontons-mixed-recycling-is-garbage-entrepreneurs-say https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/its-not-worth-it...
twipes 4y ago
As someone who works in the recycling industry (toilet paper & wet wipes). That's just not true for paper. It it plastic that is hardly recycled... Wood pulp and recycled pulp are both in incredibly high demand at the moment and both incredibly cheap to use. I can't speak for global stats, but here in England, as of 2018, we were importing over $600 million of just recycled paper to use from abroad! [ https://www.statista.com/statistics/490038/eu27-import-value-of-pulp-and-waste-paper-to-the-united-kingdom-uk/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/490038/eu27-import-value... ]
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
  I thought paper had to be clean to be recycled, causing a lot of it to be discarded (like used pizza boxes). TIL, thank you.
dangrossman 4y ago
64.7% of the paper you put in the recycling bin is indeed recycled.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
  Used pizza boxes?
  - dangrossman 4y ago
    Yes, those too. According to the American Forest & Paper Association, pizza boxes are almost universally accepted by cardboard recyclers. The small amount of cheese and grease in the cardboard bails they buy from recycling programs do not impact the quality of the paper and cardboard manufactured at mills that use recycled inputs. > AF&PA and Industry Partners Aim to Set the Record Straight – Pizza Boxes Are Recyclable, Grease and Cheese Not an Issue https://www.afandpa.org/news/2020/afpa-and-industry-partners-aim-set-record-straight-pizza-boxes-are-recyclable-grease-and https://www.afandpa.org/news/2020/afpa-and-industry-partners...