Curbside recycling has become cost effective

[charrison]

Recently San Antonio switched to automated trash and recycling pick up. This change has made curbside recycling cost effective. The prior system cost almost twice as much up the recycle bin as it did to pick up the garbage. The new system it now costs about twice as much to pick us the garbage as it does the recycle bin.

It appears automated pick up and single stream automated recycle sorting has become a cost effective way of dealing with waste.

Before the new system was implemented I might have been diverted maybe 10% of my trash to recycle bin, now it is probably about 40%+. Given that they only do trash pick up once a week now, instead of twice, basically forces you to recycle more.


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I am still cant figure out why normal trash pickup is only marginally cheaper in the new system. They have reduced the number of trucks by a 1/3 and manpower by 2/3s. Guess those new trucks are quite expensive....

 

[wwswimming]

i'm expecting the weekly pick-up to become every other week, because of the
price of gas.

it helps if your neighbors cooperate. someone stuffed a chest of drawers in our
recycling bin. it was so bizarre, it was kind of cool. but it did make recycling
difficult.

 

[StageLeft]

EDIT: The following is a rant and on topic in some general sense only. I apologize in advance, feel free to skip it:

They don't even take BOTTLES at mine. I throw them all in the trash. Also, there is a $.05 deposit per can I buy to force me to return it at walmart. Last time I went, I spent 15 min with mrsskoorb and dumped five big garbage bags in and claimed a mere $18, and the processes is quite disgusting. I hate it and have since just started throwing my cans in the fvcking trash.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
EDIT: The following is a rant and on topic in some general sense only. I apologize in advance, feel free to skip it:

They don't even take BOTTLES at mine. I throw them all in the trash. Also, there is a $.05 deposit per can I buy to force me to return it at walmart. Last time I went, I spent 15 min with mrsskoorb and dumped five big garbage bags in and claimed a mere $18, and the processes is quite disgusting. I hate it and have since just started throwing my cans in the fvcking trash.

Yeah, I'd like to kick the guy who started that squarely in the nuts. It's fucking disgusting to take them back to the store, put them in a cart, go through the store with them, and then feed them one by one.
Ever grab a cart in a store that looked "dirty"? probably used for can returns. F'n filthy.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
EDIT: The following is a rant and on topic in some general sense only. I apologize in advance, feel free to skip it:

They don't even take BOTTLES at mine. I throw them all in the trash. Also, there is a $.05 deposit per can I buy to force me to return it at walmart. Last time I went, I spent 15 min with mrsskoorb and dumped five big garbage bags in and claimed a mere $18, and the processes is quite disgusting. I hate it and have since just started throwing my cans in the fvcking trash.

Same here. I didn't have five big bags - maybe one or two, but the process was so disgusting I never went back. It's SO not worth the three dollars. Unless of course you're homeless.

 

[GRIFFIN1]

My trash gets picked up once a week. When it's hot like it is now, there are about a million maggots crawling around in the trash can two days before it's picked up. I'll usually push it out in the back yard and open the top so the birds can feast on maggot meat. The smell makes me want to puke, but the birds don't seem to mind all that much.

 

[mxyzptlk]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
EDIT: The following is a rant and on topic in some general sense only. I apologize in advance, feel free to skip it:

They don't even take BOTTLES at mine. I throw them all in the trash. Also, there is a $.05 deposit per can I buy to force me to return it at walmart. Last time I went, I spent 15 min with mrsskoorb and dumped five big garbage bags in and claimed a mere $18, and the processes is quite disgusting. I hate it and have since just started throwing my cans in the fvcking trash.

man that sucks..

back when I was a starving art student I would save up cans until I absolutely NEEDED some cash. I would load up my little toyota, with probably the same amount of cans as you, and drive to the local recycling center and get ~40-50 bucks for it all... sometimes more. It was much easier though, you just hand over all the bags and they weigh it out and pay you. None of this walking through a store (!?) and feeding single cans into a machine.. Who came up with THAT system?!

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: mxyzptlk

Originally posted by: Skoorb
EDIT: The following is a rant and on topic in some general sense only. I apologize in advance, feel free to skip it:

They don't even take BOTTLES at mine. I throw them all in the trash. Also, there is a $.05 deposit per can I buy to force me to return it at walmart. Last time I went, I spent 15 min with mrsskoorb and dumped five big garbage bags in and claimed a mere $18, and the processes is quite disgusting. I hate it and have since just started throwing my cans in the fvcking trash.

man that sucks..

back when I was a starving art student I would save up cans until I absolutely NEEDED some cash. I would load up my little toyota, with probably the same amount of cans as you, and drive to the local recycling center and get ~40-50 bucks for it all... sometimes more. It was much easier though, you just hand over all the bags and they weigh it out and pay you. None of this walking through a store (!?) and feeding single cans into a machine.. Who came up with THAT system?!

Some fuckin hippie that figured it would encourage recycling. It did to an extent but it's hassle now outweighs it's usefulness. If there were OUTDOOR places to recycle and places that didn't need to be fed one by one it'd be much better but around my area, it's mainly grocery stores that have machines, otherwise gas stations will take them but they need to be precounted and/or in original cases for easy counting. It's a freaking waste.

Oh, and by far the worst part is that the cans can't be crushed. If the label on the bottle wears off(or is torn off) you can't get your deposit back. It's a F'n joke.

 

[sactoking]

Cost effective recycling only occurs when it's free or they pay you to do it. At that point, the value of recycled materials is greater than the waste of picking it up and processing it. See: aluminum recycling

If you have to pay to do it it is not cost effective.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: sactoking
Cost effective recycling only occurs when it's free or they pay you to do it. At that point, the value of recycled materials is greater than the waste of picking it up and processing it. See: aluminum recycling

If you have to pay to do it it is not cost effective.

Agreed. There isn't any logical reason why you should PAY for recycling and as long as you want me to pay, I'm not recycling. If anything you should pay me to recycle.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: Skoorb
EDIT: The following is a rant and on topic in some general sense only. I apologize in advance, feel free to skip it:

They don't even take BOTTLES at mine. I throw them all in the trash. Also, there is a $.05 deposit per can I buy to force me to return it at walmart. Last time I went, I spent 15 min with mrsskoorb and dumped five big garbage bags in and claimed a mere $18, and the processes is quite disgusting. I hate it and have since just started throwing my cans in the fvcking trash.

Yeah, I'd like to kick the guy who started that squarely in the nuts. It's fucking disgusting to take them back to the store, put them in a cart, go through the store with them, and then feed them one by one.
Ever grab a cart in a store that looked "dirty"? probably used for can returns. F'n filthy.

Text -- Bottle deposits pre-date curbside recycling. I'm surprised your state requires that you return them to the store though. That's just stupid. I put mine out at the curb with the rest of my recycling. Usually it's just the poor who take them into the stores for refunds.

And IIRC our recycling system has been cost effective for more than a decade now, even though automated at the curb is just starting to go into effect. Maybe it's because they pick yours up twice a week? (WTF is that?). Latest reports say that 56% of all solid waste in our area was recycled last year. Organic compost recycling at the curb (read: food scraps, etc) is scheduled to begin by next year.

What's the objection to recycling anyway? This isn't just the environment, waste is bad for business.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: CADsortaGUY

Originally posted by: Skoorb
EDIT: The following is a rant and on topic in some general sense only. I apologize in advance, feel free to skip it:

They don't even take BOTTLES at mine. I throw them all in the trash. Also, there is a $.05 deposit per can I buy to force me to return it at walmart. Last time I went, I spent 15 min with mrsskoorb and dumped five big garbage bags in and claimed a mere $18, and the processes is quite disgusting. I hate it and have since just started throwing my cans in the fvcking trash.

Yeah, I'd like to kick the guy who started that squarely in the nuts. It's fucking disgusting to take them back to the store, put them in a cart, go through the store with them, and then feed them one by one.
Ever grab a cart in a store that looked "dirty"? probably used for can returns. F'n filthy.

Text -- Bottle deposits pre-date curbside recycling. I'm surprised your state requires that you return them to the store though. That's just stupid. I put mine out at the curb with the rest of my recycling. Usually it's just the poor who take them into the stores for refunds.

And IIRC our recycling system has been cost effective for more than a decade now, even though automated at the curb is just starting to go into effect. Maybe it's because they pick yours up twice a week? (WTF is that?). Latest reports say that 56% of all solid waste in our area was recycled last year. Organic compost recycling at the curb (read: food scraps, etc) is scheduled to begin by next year.

What's the objection to recycling anyway? This isn't just the environment, waste is bad for business.

Our pick up is once a week and I don't object to recycling at all. I object to the damn deposit system.

 

[piasabird]

Recycling is a joke. If you want to go through my trash and sort it feel free.

 

[EagleKeeper]

In the late 80's in CA, there was can/bottle deposits.

Recycler (Scrap) centers would pay you for the metal of the can plus the deposit collected for the can.

A trash barrel full of flattened cans was worth a good $30-40.

Box of scrap computer green-bar was $2-3.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: piasabird
Recycling is a joke. If you want to go through my trash and sort it feel free.

Neglecting our stewardship are we?

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: sactoking
Cost effective recycling only occurs when it's free or they pay you to do it. At that point, the value of recycled materials is greater than the waste of picking it up and processing it. See: aluminum recycling

If you have to pay to do it it is not cost effective.

Agreed. There isn't any logical reason why you should PAY for recycling and as long as you want me to pay, I'm not recycling. If anything you should pay me to recycle.

Explain to me how it is logical to want to pay twice as much for someone to take away household garbage for you?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: sactoking
Cost effective recycling only occurs when it's free or they pay you to do it. At that point, the value of recycled materials is greater than the waste of picking it up and processing it. See: aluminum recycling

If you have to pay to do it it is not cost effective.

Agreed. There isn't any logical reason why you should PAY for recycling and as long as you want me to pay, I'm not recycling. If anything you should pay me to recycle.

Explain to me how it is logical to want to pay twice as much for someone to take away household garbage for you?

They don't make money off of your garbage, but do make money from your recycling. So really if you do give them these resources they should lower your trash bill, effectively paying you your cut of the money they're going to make. Although that model wouldn't really work as well because of the difference week to week of the materials. Maybe some kind of weight based discount.

 

[mxyzptlk]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: sactoking
Cost effective recycling only occurs when it's free or they pay you to do it. At that point, the value of recycled materials is greater than the waste of picking it up and processing it. See: aluminum recycling

If you have to pay to do it it is not cost effective.

Agreed. There isn't any logical reason why you should PAY for recycling and as long as you want me to pay, I'm not recycling. If anything you should pay me to recycle.

I'm sorry I don't understand what you guys are talking about.. I'm guessing you guys are from one of those shitty towns where you have to pay a bill for trash pickup specifically and they want you to pay extra for a separate recycling bin? Like you have to pay for 1 bin of trash and another for a bin of recyclables?

I've never gotten a bill for trash pickup from the city of LA.. I guess it just comes out of my property taxes. We have three bins, provided by the city: one for trash, one for recyclables and one for lawn trimmings and other yard waste.

 

[StageLeft]

I think i can still put my cans in the curbside thing and eat the $.05 but it just pisses me off. I am through bringing my cans like a damn hobo to walmart, so basically somebnody is robbing me of $.05/can now.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: charrison

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: sactoking
Cost effective recycling only occurs when it's free or they pay you to do it. At that point, the value of recycled materials is greater than the waste of picking it up and processing it. See: aluminum recycling

If you have to pay to do it it is not cost effective.

Agreed. There isn't any logical reason why you should PAY for recycling and as long as you want me to pay, I'm not recycling. If anything you should pay me to recycle.

Explain to me how it is logical to want to pay twice as much for someone to take away household garbage for you?

They don't make money off of your garbage, but do make money from your recycling. So really if you do give them these resources they should lower your trash bill, effectively paying you your cut of the money they're going to make. Although that model wouldn't really work as well because of the difference week to week of the materials. Maybe some kind of weight based discount.

Or just everyone pays reduced taxes and we dont worry too much about refunds for recyclables that were donated.

 

[Oceandevi]

Originally posted by: GRIFFIN1
My trash gets picked up once a week. When it's hot like it is now, there are about a million maggots crawling around in the trash can two days before it's picked up. I'll usually push it out in the back yard and open the top so the birds can feast on maggot meat. The smell makes me want to puke, but the birds don't seem to mind all that much.

you just made me vomit in my mouth, but it was my dr pepper and pizza rolls so i ate it right back down

and to stay on topic. Why cant the waste companies just take care of this. They should be able to profit from any waste product in one way or another.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Oceandevi

Originally posted by: GRIFFIN1
My trash gets picked up once a week. When it's hot like it is now, there are about a million maggots crawling around in the trash can two days before it's picked up. I'll usually push it out in the back yard and open the top so the birds can feast on maggot meat. The smell makes me want to puke, but the birds don't seem to mind all that much.

you just made me vomit in my mouth, but it was my dr pepper and pizza rolls so i ate it right back down

and to stay on topic. Why cant the waste companies just take care of this. They should be able to profit from any waste product in one way or another.

Nice.

 

[Engineer]

Lexington, KY went to one day a week trash and recycling a few years ago. With that came the ability to throw more items into the recycling bin without sorting (had to sort before). I also try to recycle more than I throw away.

The trucks have a robot like hydraulic arm and large clamp that wraps around the can and quickly lifts and dumps. One man now picks up the trash and quite quickly too, I might add.

 

[Moonbeam]

The big ethical question I have about recycling is whether to call the cops on the people who collect stuff before the recycling people get there. It's illegal for them to do that. but should it be? Are the cans mine or the recycling company's when they are on my curb?