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Over the past 10 years I've recycled all of my large appliances. My (texas) city comes and picks them up at no charge, and I don't feel that's an unusual situat

Over the past 10 years I've recycled all of my large appliances. My (texas) city comes and picks them up at no charge, and I don't feel that's an unusual situation.

Rinzler89 2y ago
>My (texas) city comes and picks them up at no charge, and I don't feel that's an unusual situation. That IS pretty unusual, and in a positive way. I live in one of EU's richest socialist countries (Austria) and here YOU have bare the cost of transporting your old fridge or washing machine to the city's recycling depot, which is a huge expense for your average joe as that means owning or renting a car plus renting a trailer plus having a gym-bro with a strong back and equipment to lift the damn thing from your place and carry it downstairs (many older buildings don't have elevators). And once you get to the recycling center on your own dime, you have to pay 6 Euros on top if you're a resident of the city, or 33 Euros if not. Your only "free" workaround is buying a new fridge or washing machine from a retailer who also has a promo on picking up your old one for free with the delivery of the replacement. So many people just dump them in the basement of the apartment building or on the side of the road. #environment #green But hey, at least we've banned nuclear energy in the constitution because it's bad for the environment. Isn't it ironic where one of US's most conservative states with low taxes, does things better than one of EU's most socialist "green" states where taxes are through the roof? I think it's similar in other EU countries like the Netherlands.
- tzs 2y ago
  I'd have thought that most people getting rid of a an old fridge or washing machine are replacing it with a new fridge or washing machine. The same vehicle and trailer and gym-bro that is bringing the new machine can then be used to haul away the old one. That's how it typically works in the US. The appliance dealer offers delivery and for an extra charge will haul away the old unit.
  - Rinzler89 2y ago
    Not all retailers here offer e-waste takeaway with their delivery though. Online ones like Amazon or small discounters do not AFAIk. Only the big brick and mortar ones do since they have their own delivery vehicles and employees.
    - sokoloff 2y ago
      Most appliance stores use an outsource provider for appliance deliveries. (A few local furniture stores have their own vehicles and employees, and Home Depot made the switch last-year to in-house appliance delivery, but most appliances are delivered/setup by a 3PL/4PL provider.)
- Cthulhu_ 2y ago
  In the Netherlands, when you buy a new appliance you pay a few euros extra "recycling fee"; the company delivering the new appliance will take the old one back for recycling, and / or the money goes into a fund for recycling the product you just bought. (I just read up on it, it used to be a separate charge, it's now baked into the price, probably because people were balking about it)
  - Rinzler89 2y ago
    >the company delivering the new appliance will take the old one back for recycling Do all shops offer this in NL?
    - brnt 2y ago
      They must when above a certain floorplan size.
- mopenstein 2y ago
  When you set anything metal outside on the curb with a free sign, it gets recycled. Either someone takes it to use or they scrap it to be melted down for repurposing. I talked to an elderly man digging in my father's trash for metal recently. He's not doing it because he's poor but because he's retired and bored and gets cash for the scrap that doesn't affect his social security income. He recycles everything with metal in it. Even pulling out individual wires when he has time. He says he gets paid more if he dismantles the appliance versus turning it in whole.
  - Rinzler89 2y ago
    >When you set anything metal outside on the curb with a free sign, it gets recycled. That's not allowed in Europe if you just dump your e-waste in front of the building with a "free sign" on it. You get fiend for littering and the garbage company that picks it up fines the building where you live and it goes into your rent costs.
- brnt 2y ago
  Here in the Netherlands the 'ijzerboer' will pick up anything made with sufficient percentages of steel. Washing machines included. Soms places you need to call them, in some they just drive through once a week.
sahila 2y ago
I'm a bit skeptical about them actually being recycled though. How many of the appliances are recyclable? What parts of them are vs what ends up in the dump? Everything I've heard - and admittedly I haven't looked too deep - is that recycling is mostly a sham and mostly just ends up as waste either here or shipped overseas for someone else to deal with.
- meatmanek 2y ago
  I would expect appliances to be fairly recyclable. They're mostly made of metal, which can be sold for scrap. Parts can be stripped out and sold to appliance repair shops. Plus, appliances with refrigerants need special handling to prevent the release of the refrigerants to the atmosphere -- better to have one organization handling that than leaving citizens to their own devices.
- ssl-3 2y ago
  Plastic and glass recycling is often a sham, because both things are usually of little value -- sometimes, even of negative value. A pile of plastic is mostly just a liability, with a strong likelihood of it ultimately being dumped or landfilled somewhere in the world. But metal recycling is real. Unlike plastic and glass, metal has positive value. There is an entire profitable industry that exists to recycle metal -- including appliances. We've been recycling metals for as long as we have mined their ores from the Earth. A pile of washing machines is an asset. It has real value. It doesn't get landfilled or dumped -- it gets sold.
  - sahila 2y ago
    Good to know, appreciate the context.

Over the past 10 years I've recycled all of my large appliances. My (texas) city comes and picks them up at no charge, and I don't feel that's an unusual situation.

Rinzler89 2y ago

>My (texas) city comes and picks them up at no charge, and I don't feel that's an unusual situation. That IS pretty unusual, and in a positive way. I live in one of EU's richest socialist countries (Austria) and here YOU have bare the cost of transporting your old fridge or washing machine to the city's recycling depot, which is a huge expense for your average joe as that means owning or renting a car plus renting a trailer plus having a gym-bro with a strong back and equipment to lift the damn thing from your place and carry it downstairs (many older buildings don't have elevators). And once you get to the recycling center on your own dime, you have to pay 6 Euros on top if you're a resident of the city, or 33 Euros if not. Your only "free" workaround is buying a new fridge or washing machine from a retailer who also has a promo on picking up your old one for free with the delivery of the replacement. So many people just dump them in the basement of the apartment building or on the side of the road. #environment #green But hey, at least we've banned nuclear energy in the constitution because it's bad for the environment. Isn't it ironic where one of US's most conservative states with low taxes, does things better than one of EU's most socialist "green" states where taxes are through the roof? I think it's similar in other EU countries like the Netherlands.

tzs 2y ago
I'd have thought that most people getting rid of a an old fridge or washing machine are replacing it with a new fridge or washing machine. The same vehicle and trailer and gym-bro that is bringing the new machine can then be used to haul away the old one. That's how it typically works in the US. The appliance dealer offers delivery and for an extra charge will haul away the old unit.
- Rinzler89 2y ago
  Not all retailers here offer e-waste takeaway with their delivery though. Online ones like Amazon or small discounters do not AFAIk. Only the big brick and mortar ones do since they have their own delivery vehicles and employees.
  - sokoloff 2y ago
    Most appliance stores use an outsource provider for appliance deliveries. (A few local furniture stores have their own vehicles and employees, and Home Depot made the switch last-year to in-house appliance delivery, but most appliances are delivered/setup by a 3PL/4PL provider.)
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
In the Netherlands, when you buy a new appliance you pay a few euros extra "recycling fee"; the company delivering the new appliance will take the old one back for recycling, and / or the money goes into a fund for recycling the product you just bought. (I just read up on it, it used to be a separate charge, it's now baked into the price, probably because people were balking about it)
- Rinzler89 2y ago
  >the company delivering the new appliance will take the old one back for recycling Do all shops offer this in NL?
  - brnt 2y ago
    They must when above a certain floorplan size.
mopenstein 2y ago
When you set anything metal outside on the curb with a free sign, it gets recycled. Either someone takes it to use or they scrap it to be melted down for repurposing. I talked to an elderly man digging in my father's trash for metal recently. He's not doing it because he's poor but because he's retired and bored and gets cash for the scrap that doesn't affect his social security income. He recycles everything with metal in it. Even pulling out individual wires when he has time. He says he gets paid more if he dismantles the appliance versus turning it in whole.
- Rinzler89 2y ago
  >When you set anything metal outside on the curb with a free sign, it gets recycled. That's not allowed in Europe if you just dump your e-waste in front of the building with a "free sign" on it. You get fiend for littering and the garbage company that picks it up fines the building where you live and it goes into your rent costs.
brnt 2y ago
Here in the Netherlands the 'ijzerboer' will pick up anything made with sufficient percentages of steel. Washing machines included. Soms places you need to call them, in some they just drive through once a week.

sahila 2y ago

I'm a bit skeptical about them actually being recycled though. How many of the appliances are recyclable? What parts of them are vs what ends up in the dump? Everything I've heard - and admittedly I haven't looked too deep - is that recycling is mostly a sham and mostly just ends up as waste either here or shipped overseas for someone else to deal with.

meatmanek 2y ago
I would expect appliances to be fairly recyclable. They're mostly made of metal, which can be sold for scrap. Parts can be stripped out and sold to appliance repair shops. Plus, appliances with refrigerants need special handling to prevent the release of the refrigerants to the atmosphere -- better to have one organization handling that than leaving citizens to their own devices.
ssl-3 2y ago
Plastic and glass recycling is often a sham, because both things are usually of little value -- sometimes, even of negative value. A pile of plastic is mostly just a liability, with a strong likelihood of it ultimately being dumped or landfilled somewhere in the world. But metal recycling is real. Unlike plastic and glass, metal has positive value. There is an entire profitable industry that exists to recycle metal -- including appliances. We've been recycling metals for as long as we have mined their ores from the Earth. A pile of washing machines is an asset. It has real value. It doesn't get landfilled or dumped -- it gets sold.
- sahila 2y ago
  Good to know, appreciate the context.