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One of the big problems with plastic recycling is that people read "plastic recycling is a scam" but internalize "recycling is a scam". Some types of recycli
by bryanlarsen 3y ago
One of the big problems with plastic recycling is that people read "plastic recycling is a scam" but internalize "recycling is a scam". Some types of recycling are massively successful and efficient, like the recycling of vehicle lead acid batteries or post industrial steel recycling.
- declan_roberts 3y agoYou don’t need to put metals in the recycling (at least not ferrous ones) because they pick those out of the trash anyway. They just charge you extra to feel good about it.
- Ma8ee 3y agoWhy do you think so?
- asimovfan 3y agoProbably because its easy to do with a magnet so someone must be doing it already
- pimlottc 3y agoAluminum is not magnetic
- computerfriend 3y ago> (at least not ferrous ones)
- ponderings 3y agoEddy Current Separators https://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/magnetic-equipment-guide----eddy-current-separators/ https://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/magnetic-equipment-gu...
- Ma8ee 3y agoI don’t think it is easy. Most of the other garbage will just tag along when you lift the metals. It would be different if the garbage was burned. Then you could just get the metals out of the ashes. But to have a clean incineration, the temperature will be high enough to evaporate some metals too. Maybe if you ground all garbage to a powder it could work too. But that is another step that costs time and energy.
- dvdkon 3y agoSome towns have thankfully realised that charging per-bin is silly and doesn't reflect their expenses well, so they now charge per-pickup, per-volume or per-weight, with recycling bins being generally much cheaper than mixed waste bins or even free.
- rascul 3y ago> You don’t need to put metals in the recycling (at least not ferrous ones) because they pick those out of the trash anyway. I've never seen that done at any of the various landfills I've been to. I wonder if perhaps some do that I'm not aware of, or if I misunderstood your meaning.
- dmoy 3y agoOr aluminum recycling, crazy efficient compared to making new aluminum.
- Ma8ee 3y agoOr glass, or paper, and almost all types of metal.
- wolfi1 3y agoglass recycling is way more inefficient than you think, granted, you don't need the sand to melt but you still need the same energy, so, if the glass bottles are used just once you gain nothing, ecologically
- __MatrixMan__ 3y agoAlso toner cartridges and pretty much anything else where "recycling" means putting back in the hands of the people who built it in the first place.
- declan_roberts 3y agoUnfortunately glass isn’t recycled here. I’ve been trying to figure out why. Probably more common in places that have glass production.
- hinkley 3y agoFrom what I understand they want a mix of recycled and virgin glass to maximize the characteristics of the glass. Once upon a time they used to reuse coke and beer bottles, not just recycle them.
- bombcar 3y agoI've heard (but am not sure) that the (energy) cost of transporting the empties + washing/sanitizing them may be more than making new ones. At least the dollar cost is higher, or they'd still do it (some local milk farms wash and reuse their jugs, so at some low level it's still efficient).
- phero_cnstrcts 3y agoDo you have any numbers on how big that problem is?
- mathgradthrow 3y agoSorting your recycling is probably a scam. My understanding is that the aluminum content is already high enough to hire workers to sift through garbage. It's a terrible job but robots will do it soon.
- mariusor 3y agoCould you tell me why spending a modicum of effort to sort one's trash in order to save more work for other people in the pipeline is a scam? Until we get robots to do this, I mean.
- mathgradthrow 3y agoit doesn't save work, sifting requires the same labor inputs for any fraction, a more dilute trash stream doesn't help.
- infecto 3y agoYes because we pay core charges on items or get back money for the metal. I don’t think most people think recycling in general is a scam. What is a scam are most of the municipal/local efforts to recycle. Those are practically all scams and I wish we were more honest. Give me a little bin, take my glass and metals. The rest just throw in the dump.
- ZeroGravitas 3y agoI'd say it's the other way round. There's a powerful and vocal contingent in the USA/Silicon Valley/HN that hate all recycling as a matter of libertarian principle. It's basically a sin against the gods of free markets for any government program to fix market externalities and worse to be successful and popular. The only type of recycling they've had any real success in demonising is plastic, so they use that as a wedge to bad mouth the whole thing. Very similar process, often with the same players, with climate change.