Yes, and in rural areas I suspect many still burn their trash. I wonder how many recycle?
Participants on TMF I suspect are not representative of the general population. Many or even most here probably recycle. But the folks who are boycotting Bud Light. How many recycle? I suspect no more than half.
Actually, we had mandatory recycling and there were city employees that would spot check your trash. First violation was a warning plus they wouldn’t pick up your trash that week. The second time was a fine and no trash pickup.
I said mandatory because they have now abandoned all recycling. According to the city the market for recyclables is non-existent.
I’m not aware of any mandatory recycling in my area.
Yes, the system is broken. Funds are needed to support the system. Getting companies to use recycled and pay for it would be a good start. Or tax virgin plastic to give financial incentives.
We have a sort of all in recycling claim in this neck of the woods. I forget the name of it. The recycling is sorted on a belt non stop.
There are a lot of people recycling. The trash companies have a major sin of omission the plastic is mostly not being recycled. The companies have most of the plastic. The trash companies should be able to sell it at a government mandated price that covers cost and a profit to recyclers who would supply bottlers with a mandate to use the recycled PET.
I want a full accountability. At 3 cents more of a Pepsi it is worth it.
Lots more can be done. Lots more should be done.
We know who the opposition will be.
Getting politicians to come through with effective requirements can be a challenge. Don’t hold your breath.
Only boomers think nothing in American can get done. Only the boomers. Many of us will have it written on our tombstone, “I always thought nothing in American would ever get done”.
On my last shopping trip to Costco, I bought extra fancy unsalted mixed nuts contained in an orange colored Kirkland Signature plastic bag that had on the front side the following eye catching label in red letters on a yellow background “85% REDUCED PLASTIC” in large letters underscored with “COMPARED TO THE JAR” in smaller print. On the back of the bag was a recycle logo labeled “PLASTIC POUCH” with a diagonal black line across it. According to the
https://how2recycle.info/ website, this means “Not Yet Recycled: Either less than 20% of Americans can recycle this package, or, it could cause a problem in a recycling facility.”
Also, on the back of the Kirkland bag is a white box label stating: “Made with a minimum 30% post-consumer recycled content.”
The How2Recycle website also refers to another website that provides Store Drop-off participating locations to recycle plastic bags, film and wrap and specifically identifies unacceptable items that includes guess what - the Costco Kirkland plastic pouch which now will go in my Waste Management trash cart.
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Elevating this discussion to a macro-perspective as a California resident in LA County, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), which requires cities to reduce organic waste disposal by 75% by 2025. Effective January 1, 2022, all California businesses, multifamily complexes, and residences are required to sort food scraps and yard debris from trash and recycling into an organics cart.
SB 1383’s intent is to reduce organic materials going to the landfill, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, and thereby slowing climate change and its impacts on our environment. Organics, such as food scraps, yard trimmings, food soiled paper, and cardboard make up half of what Californians throw away.
In May 2023, my city mailed me a flyer, New Statewide Mandatory Organic Waste Collection.
Here are key points from the Residential FAQ’s about California SB 1383:
Q: Will it affect my rate?
A: Yes, all rates will be affected – residential, multifamily, and commercial. These rates cover the costs of yard waste and food waste collection, transportation and the processing of these materials.
Q: Will I be fined if I don’t do this?
A: SB 1383 does require the City to fine violators. However, the City will make every reasonable effort to collaborate to develop solutions, before enforcement.
Q: What is contamination?
A: Contamination occurs when you place non-acceptable items in the wrong bin. Contaminants can ruin an entire truck load of organics or recyclables and prevent these materials from being recycled. Loose plastic bags and bagged materials in organics and recycle carts are the most common contaminants. Please empty your organics and recyclable materials directly into your organics or recycle carts to give them the best chance of becoming new products.
Q: How will containers be monitored for contamination under SB 1383?
A: Waste Management SmartTruckSM technology captures video images of materials as they’re leaving the cart and entering the truck. This process occurs during every collection activity. When contamination occurs, Waste Management provides the customer with targeted feedback and education that includes the image of the cart contents. The hope is that this rapid feedback will help correct contamination. Please ensure that your preferred contact information is up to date by setting your preferences in your online https://www.wm.com account or My WM mobile application.
The aforementioned city flyer also addresses SB 1383 enforcement as follows:
What to expect: July 2023
Starting July 1, 2023, if the Waste Management Smart Truck finds an issue with your cart due to contamination or an overfilled cart, the following will take place:
Occurrences within a Calendar Year
1st & 2nd Incident
• Contaminated/Overfilled Cart will be serviced
• Letter mailed to service address that states subsequent incidents may be fined a Contamination/Overfilled Cart fee
• Letter will contain photographic documentation of the Contaminated/Overfilled Cart
3rd & Subsequent Incidents
• Contaminated/Overfilled Cart will be serviced
• Letter mailed to service address that states subsequent incidents may be fined a Contamination/Overfilled Cart Fee
• Letter will contain photographic documentation of the Contaminated/Overfilled Cart
• Contamination/Overfilled Cart Fee will be assessed
ENFORCING SB 1383 COMPLIANCE IS REQUIRED OF ALL CITIES IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. CITIES THAT FAIL TO DEMONSTRATE ENFORCEMENT FACE PENALTIES OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS PER DAY IN FINES.
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I’ll close my post, addressing free bulky item pick up by Waste Management. My city residents may request a total of 6 bulky item pickups each calendar year for items that do not fit in refuse carts.
Bulky items include: couches, washers, dryers, refrigerators, mattresses, TV’s, computers, furniture and even extra bags of trash that do not fit in the trash cart.
My city has a free battery recycling kiosk at City Hall that accepts used household, lithium and cell phone batteries.
Regards,
Ray
I’m just south of you in Orange County. Our organics are composted. A couple of times a year, we can pick up two bags of compost from the local waste management office. All county residents can also pick up free bulk compost by appointment at the composting facility.
I’m contemplating putting a raised planter bed in my back yard. If I do, I’ll definitely snag some compost to fill that bed (along with a couple of other things, generally making a potting soil mix).
My organics can is typically close to full every week. Mostly yard trimmings, as I’m working to improve our landscaping this spring and summer.
–Peter
What then happens to the yard waste and how are GHG emissions reduced?
DB2
Around here, every grocery store has a recycling bin for plastic bags, which are not acceptable to any of the garbage company recycling programs … only problem being that the word is these bins are merely dumped into the store’s general trash.
I don’t throw away any organics! Why would I give away good compost material for free!!! All organics go into my compost bin in the backyard. The remarkable thing is that I have one of those mesh kind of compost bins that sits open on the ground, so I’ve never had to turn it or empty it. Apparently all its goodness slowly seeps down into the ground under my carambola tree (which fruits profusely a few times a year).
This is the one I bought (in 2013, so it’s been doing its thing for nearly 10 years) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085O6NXQ/
Would that include–or exclude–politicians?
Not sure where you are located, but here in southeastern MA, we are under a black bear watch! The Department of Wildlife is asking everyone in our area to take in their bird feeders (suet especially) and cover all compost containers.
Black Bears have always been prevalent in the west side of MA, west of the Connecticut River which is a pretty wide river and has kept black bears mostly out of eastern MA. But recently, (last 2 years) more black bears are heading in our direction - one just sighted in one of the major cities around here (forget which one).
Hope you don’t have bears around your neighborhood!!!
'38Packard
→ Happy Fourth!!! 
We have black bears everywhere. The bears get euthanized when a bear gets to close to humans. This is important to those of us who care. Do not feed the bears. Last case I heard this year of euthanized bears the three cubs also were put down.
Preach it brother. I compost like crazy, and still find it hard to keep up. I use various compost methods, but all that great organic matter goes into improving the soil on my property.
In Oregon, they’re radiating the cannabis to keep everyone safe.
intercst
Slowly but surely over the decades we are idiot-proofing America. There is no hope for us.
Lego enthusiastically announced in 2021 that the prototype PET blocks had become the first recycled alternative to pass its “strict” quality, safety and play requirements, following experimentation with several other iterations that proved not durable enough…
On average, a one-liter plastic PET bottle made enough raw material for ten 2 x 4 Lego bricks. Despite the determination that the PET prototype failed to save on carbon emissions, Lego said it remained “fully committed to making Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032.”
DB2
Thanks for the posting. Its hard to believe recycled PET produces more carbon than new plastic.
Article says Lego bricks are made with “bio-polypropylene.” Not sure what that is but probably made from the glycerin that is a by-product of bio diesel. Glycerine has a three carbon chain like propylene.
Even if it somehow produces more CO2, it does reduce the amount of plastic by providing a market for the used bottles (which 90% of are silly when you can fill a cup or reusable bottle from filtered water most of the time)
How much CO2 is produced when shipping water from a “special” spring half way around the world for someone to drink? Fiji, Evian, etc are big offenders.
Mike