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In my locale, throwing aluminum cans in the recycle bin earns me a disparagement from my garbage/recycling company and maybe even threats to cancel my service.

In my locale, throwing aluminum cans in the recycle bin earns me a disparagement from my garbage/recycling company and maybe even threats to cancel my service. The only thing accepted in the bin is relatively clean paper materials. I have to take the cans down to the recycling center and throw them one by one into some machine and maybe they'll get recycled. Any compensation I might get is from the state, which is basically a dime for a can. At that point I'm just going to throw them all in the trash, not worth my time nor fuel to drive down.

uxp100 3y ago
A dime a can is more than they’re worth. Of course, you already paid that dime when you bought em, but it’s not as if scrap value instead of deposit would make your payout go up.
babblefrog 3y ago
Can and bottle deposits are older than the general recycling push, at least where I live. It was more about keeping trash off the road sides than re-use.
nerdbert 3y ago
In my locale the waste management company encourages us to toss aluminum cans in the bin with everything else except for glass and paper. They use powerful magnets and eddy current sorters to separate them from the rest of the stream.
- lostlogin 3y ago
  They use a powerful magnet on aluminium? Is it enough to slow aluminium on a conveyer or something?
  - nerdbert 3y ago
    This type of machine: https://dingsmagnets.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Eddy-Current-Concentric-Operation.png https://dingsmagnets.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Eddy-Cur... The rotor contains powerful magnets and when it spins quickly it induces a magnetic field in nonferrous metals like aluminum, repelling them from the rotor so that they overshoot the "other waste" bin.
iszomer 3y ago
iirc. NurdRage had a video showing soda cans aren't made completely of aluminum and that there is still a plastic coating lining the interior.
- xp84 3y ago
  The liners are so they don't corrode because of the acidic contents (not necessarily scary. Acidic doesn't mean deadly but it's not good for cans. But anyway, what I've been told is that any kind of adulterants on metals aren't even a big deal because that will easily burn off when they melt them. Think about the Terminator in Terminator II. The leather jacket, and indeed The Chip were not a problem when he was lowered into the steel. :'(
zx8080 3y ago
> which is basically a dime for a can. It's your dime, that you've paid. Included in the price. Same thing exists in Sweden for plastic, for example. Usually such schemes are basically incentives for homeless (or poor) people to clean up streets paid from the can buyers pockets.
- hansvm 3y ago
  That'd be an okay outcome probably. In my area you instead see both trash and recycling cans emptied into the street as an easy source of cans.
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  It still costs me my time and money to (re-)get that dime. As far as I'm concerned, that ain't worth it; they can keep the dime and deal with the can in the trash bin, I couldn't care less.

uxp100 3y ago

A dime a can is more than they’re worth. Of course, you already paid that dime when you bought em, but it’s not as if scrap value instead of deposit would make your payout go up.

babblefrog 3y ago

Can and bottle deposits are older than the general recycling push, at least where I live. It was more about keeping trash off the road sides than re-use.

nerdbert 3y ago

In my locale the waste management company encourages us to toss aluminum cans in the bin with everything else except for glass and paper. They use powerful magnets and eddy current sorters to separate them from the rest of the stream.

lostlogin 3y ago
They use a powerful magnet on aluminium? Is it enough to slow aluminium on a conveyer or something?
- nerdbert 3y ago
  This type of machine: https://dingsmagnets.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Eddy-Current-Concentric-Operation.png https://dingsmagnets.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Eddy-Cur... The rotor contains powerful magnets and when it spins quickly it induces a magnetic field in nonferrous metals like aluminum, repelling them from the rotor so that they overshoot the "other waste" bin.

iszomer 3y ago

iirc. NurdRage had a video showing soda cans aren't made completely of aluminum and that there is still a plastic coating lining the interior.

xp84 3y ago
The liners are so they don't corrode because of the acidic contents (not necessarily scary. Acidic doesn't mean deadly but it's not good for cans. But anyway, what I've been told is that any kind of adulterants on metals aren't even a big deal because that will easily burn off when they melt them. Think about the Terminator in Terminator II. The leather jacket, and indeed The Chip were not a problem when he was lowered into the steel. :'(

zx8080 3y ago

> which is basically a dime for a can. It's your dime, that you've paid. Included in the price. Same thing exists in Sweden for plastic, for example. Usually such schemes are basically incentives for homeless (or poor) people to clean up streets paid from the can buyers pockets.

hansvm 3y ago
That'd be an okay outcome probably. In my area you instead see both trash and recycling cans emptied into the street as an easy source of cans.
Dalewyn 3y ago
It still costs me my time and money to (re-)get that dime. As far as I'm concerned, that ain't worth it; they can keep the dime and deal with the can in the trash bin, I couldn't care less.