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See for example the Seattle "tips to recycle right" * Empty, Clean, and Dry * When in Doubt, Find Out * Keep Bags Out The page goes into detail on each.

by progne 3y ago

See for example the Seattle "tips to recycle right" * Empty, Clean, and Dry * When in Doubt, Find Out * Keep Bags Out The page goes into detail on each. This isn't unusual in my experience. https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/collection-and-disposal/recycling/recycle-right https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/collection-a... Here's an online tool to help people identify the various kinds of recyclables and direct them correctly. It isn't easy and I doubt few Seattle residents know all of these. https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/collection-and-disposal/where-does-it-go#/a-z https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/collection-a... If everyone started sorting and cleaning according to these rules the fraction of usable recyclables would increase a lot.

tmountain 3y ago
How does this align with NPRs fairly recent report that recycling probably isn't even worth it? https://www.npr.org/2021/04/21/987111675/video-is-recycling-worth-it-anymore-people-on-the-front-lines-say-maybe-not https://www.npr.org/2021/04/21/987111675/video-is-recycling-... How many hours have we (as a species) wasted sorting and meticulously managing our waste when the vast majority of it never gets recycled anyway? I'm asking the question as someone who cares deeply about the environment. I just think recycling is a fake solution invented by the plastic industry to alleviate the consumer guilt that comes with purchasing single-use plastics. If you don't like a bunch of waste in your landfills, buy fewer single-use products. The vast majority of what goes into the bin never gets recycled anyway.
- junofan 3y ago
  After moving to Switzerland I remember receiving a pamphlet with something like 15 different types of recycling I was supposed to do. There were special trash detectives that could fine people and imprison those who couldn’t pay. I lived above a recycling depot and watched locals diligently separate their trash by type of metal, color of glass, and like 10 other factors. Then once or twice a week I watched the pickup guy come by with a truck and dump the bins into one big, mixed pile in the back of his tractor-trailer.
  - mike_hearn 3y ago
    The trash detectives are iirc looking for people who throw out trash without using the taxed bags, not for people who aren't sorting recycling correctly. I've heard of people being fined for not using the proper bags but never for just tossing things in the regular trash.

by progne 3y ago

tmountain 3y ago

How does this align with NPRs fairly recent report that recycling probably isn't even worth it? https://www.npr.org/2021/04/21/987111675/video-is-recycling-worth-it-anymore-people-on-the-front-lines-say-maybe-not https://www.npr.org/2021/04/21/987111675/video-is-recycling-... How many hours have we (as a species) wasted sorting and meticulously managing our waste when the vast majority of it never gets recycled anyway? I'm asking the question as someone who cares deeply about the environment. I just think recycling is a fake solution invented by the plastic industry to alleviate the consumer guilt that comes with purchasing single-use plastics. If you don't like a bunch of waste in your landfills, buy fewer single-use products. The vast majority of what goes into the bin never gets recycled anyway.

junofan 3y ago
After moving to Switzerland I remember receiving a pamphlet with something like 15 different types of recycling I was supposed to do. There were special trash detectives that could fine people and imprison those who couldn’t pay. I lived above a recycling depot and watched locals diligently separate their trash by type of metal, color of glass, and like 10 other factors. Then once or twice a week I watched the pickup guy come by with a truck and dump the bins into one big, mixed pile in the back of his tractor-trailer.
- mike_hearn 3y ago
  The trash detectives are iirc looking for people who throw out trash without using the taxed bags, not for people who aren't sorting recycling correctly. I've heard of people being fined for not using the proper bags but never for just tossing things in the regular trash.