Recycleing is a rip off.

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Recycling saves the environment and actually lowers your property taxes as your city/town needs to spend less to dispose of your trash.

Hopefully, more towns/cities will go to a pay to throw out your garbage model and you'll have more people recycling. Yes, recycling costs money but it's less expense then regular trash disposal as the money made by selling the recycled items helps offset the cost.

Recycling is not a scam. People need to educate themselves.

Landfill space is running out, causing towns/cities to spend more money to transport their trash to dispose. I know states like MA and NY transport their trash out of state b/c of landfills in their states filling-up and closing.

We are running out of land for landfills??? Are you kidding me? We have a ton of unused land and as I said earlier, once the modern landfills are full you turn it into a public area like a park. Dumping waste in landfills is pretty damn cheap and nowhere near the costs to the public of recycling. Thats why your garbage pickup bill does not go up when you opt out of recycling yet it does go up when you opt in. Hell, some landfills are being used to generate electricity.

When recycling becomes economically feasible then I will be all for it. Right now, it isn't even close.

 

[0roo0roo]

heh yea.
america is massive
people have problems with geography and scale if they think landfills take up much space.

 

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: Throckmorton

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
OP, the cost of making a jar from a recycled jar is probably less than the cost of making one from scratch. That saves the first company a little money, which saves the bottling company a little money, which saves the supermarket a little money, which saves you a little money on the final purchase price.

So, no, you're not getting screwed.

Wrong answer.

It costs more to recycle almost everything except metal than to simply make a new one from scratch.

Not to mention that the government subsidizes the recycling companies (because they can't turn a profit on their own) which comes out of your tax dollars. Bottom line: You spend more and don't get anything in return except for a false sense of "helping the environment".

Recyling some things cost more, but that's because it costs money to collect the materials, not because of the recycling process. I have no idea why you think recycling gives a false sense of helping the environment. Saving material and energy is a GOOD thing.


Recycling plastic makes the least sense, but recycling paper, metal, and glass is good no matter how you look at it.

wrong.

the only item that makes economic sense to recycle is aluminum cans.

everything else takes way more energy to recycle than to make a new one.

To recycle paper, you need to use very toxic chemicals. That's not good for the environment.

recycling is bullshit.

Recycling paper uses less toxic chemicals than making new paper. It CAN take more fossil fuels because a paper mill gets some of its energy from wood, but it takes soil, water, and fossil resources it takes to grow trees.

So making new paper requires equal or less energy from the grid and throwing it into a landfill CAN produce a rather substantial amount of electricity. Energy savings is not a reason to recycle paper. In the near future landfills could produce over 1% of the electricity we use and from what the very small amount of research I just did it appears to be economically feasible (it makes money instead of losing money).

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Recycling saves the environment and actually lowers your property taxes as your city/town needs to spend less to dispose of your trash.

Hopefully, more towns/cities will go to a pay to throw out your garbage model and you'll have more people recycling. Yes, recycling costs money but it's less expense then regular trash disposal as the money made by selling the recycled items helps offset the cost.

Recycling is not a scam. People need to educate themselves.

Landfill space is running out, causing towns/cities to spend more money to transport their trash to dispose. I know states like MA and NY transport their trash out of state b/c of landfills in their states filling-up and closing.

We are running out of land for landfills??? Are you kidding me? We have a ton of unused land and as I said earlier, once the modern landfills are full you turn it into a public area like a park. Dumping waste in landfills is pretty damn cheap and nowhere near the costs to the public of recycling. Thats why your garbage pickup bill does not go up when you opt out of recycling yet it does go up when you opt in. Hell, some landfills are being used to generate electricity.

When recycling becomes economically feasible then I will be all for it. Right now, it isn't even close.

Matters where you live. Like I said, do some research and you'll find that many states have filled their landfills and forced to truck their trash out of their states.
'
I'm many towns/cities have gone to pay to throw for garbage as the INCREASING costs to handle trash removal have increased. In CA, MA, WA (only states that I've lived in as a home owner), you can recycle as much as you want but you have to pay to throw for garbage (more you throw out the more it costs).

It sounds like where you live, they have a poorly structured recycling program.

 

[Throckmorton]

LOL @ people willing to pay for shipping waste out to the Arizona desert but not pay for recycling pickup

 

[Capt Caveman]

Well, one of the problems is that you need to have a high enough recycling rate to make the collection and transportation of recyclables economically feasible. I can only assume cities/towns that charge for recycling have very low recycling rates and it costs them more to recycle per ton compared to trash disposal.

 

[jlee]

We have to pay for trash disposal. Recycling is free. Soo, I recycle.

 

[alkemyst]

In the end it's not so much about the costs it's about the savings to the environment in reusing it's resources as well as not clogging them with trash.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
wrong.

the only item that makes economic sense to recycle is aluminum cans.

everything else takes way more energy to recycle than to make a new one.

To recycle paper, you need to use very toxic chemicals. That's not good for the environment.

recycling is bullshit.

"energy" isn't the full measure of environmental impact...not by a long shot. Using more "energy" is much cleaner than using more raw materials. Per the paper analogy, it might take more energy to collect, transport, grind up, and recycle paper than it does to chop down a forest, truck the trees to the mill, chop THEM up, and create new paper...but the former is worse for the environment. In fact, if you live in an area with hydroelectric/wind/solar/geothermal/nuclear power plants, using more energy is MUCH more environmentally friendly than opening new mines, chopping down more forests, and so on.

 

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
LOL @ people willing to pay for shipping waste out to the Arizona desert but not pay for recycling pickup

Who said anything about shipping stuff to the desert?

In the US we tend to have "pockets" of high density population. In 95% of the country there is a ton of usable land just outside of those pockets. And when the pocket grows you turn the landfill into a park/generate electricity from it.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
LOL @ people willing to pay for shipping waste out to the Arizona desert but not pay for recycling pickup

Who said anything about shipping stuff to the desert?

In the US we tend to have "pockets" of high density population. In 95% of the country there is a ton of usable land just outside of those pockets. And when the pocket grows you turn the landfill into a park/generate electricity from it.

NY ships their garbage to VA. I guess they have enough parks and electricity.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: irishScott

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Dont recycle, I dont and wont.

Why not?

Well for one thing I've read too many articles as where as the Penn and Tellers Bullshit episode where they show that the only thing that really makes sense from an ecological standpoint to recycle is aluminum since it uses so much power to create.

Another reason is why should I go out of MY way to sort and bag seperately so someone else can make money on it? Recycling is big business and I dont think its fair that I do the work so someone else can profit

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

Originally posted by: Throckmorton

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: RaistlinZ
OP, the cost of making a jar from a recycled jar is probably less than the cost of making one from scratch. That saves the first company a little money, which saves the bottling company a little money, which saves the supermarket a little money, which saves you a little money on the final purchase price.

So, no, you're not getting screwed.

Wrong answer.

It costs more to recycle almost everything except metal than to simply make a new one from scratch.

Not to mention that the government subsidizes the recycling companies (because they can't turn a profit on their own) which comes out of your tax dollars. Bottom line: You spend more and don't get anything in return except for a false sense of "helping the environment".

Recyling some things cost more, but that's because it costs money to collect the materials, not because of the recycling process. I have no idea why you think recycling gives a false sense of helping the environment. Saving material and energy is a GOOD thing.


Recycling plastic makes the least sense, but recycling paper, metal, and glass is good no matter how you look at it.

wrong.

the only item that makes economic sense to recycle is aluminum cans.

everything else takes way more energy to recycle than to make a new one.

To recycle paper, you need to use very toxic chemicals. That's not good for the environment.

recycling is bullshit.

Recycling paper uses less toxic chemicals than making new paper. It CAN take more fossil fuels because a paper mill gets some of its energy from wood, but it takes soil, water, and fossil resources it takes to grow trees.

I have a friend that works at a pulp mill and the smell and sight of the sludge that comes out of there is enough to keep me from wanting to recycle

Most paper comes from trees that were planted to make paper.

 

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
LOL @ people willing to pay for shipping waste out to the Arizona desert but not pay for recycling pickup

Who said anything about shipping stuff to the desert?

In the US we tend to have "pockets" of high density population. In 95% of the country there is a ton of usable land just outside of those pockets. And when the pocket grows you turn the landfill into a park/generate electricity from it.

NY ships their garbage to VA. I guess they have enough parks and electricity.

Ok... You found the 5% of the country that doesn't have the space close by. That doesn't mean that recycling on a national scale is necessary.

Cosmonauts on the space station drink their own recycled pee but that doesn't mean we should do it when its not necessary.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman

Originally posted by: Darwin333

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
LOL @ people willing to pay for shipping waste out to the Arizona desert but not pay for recycling pickup

Who said anything about shipping stuff to the desert?

In the US we tend to have "pockets" of high density population. In 95% of the country there is a ton of usable land just outside of those pockets. And when the pocket grows you turn the landfill into a park/generate electricity from it.

NY ships their garbage to VA. I guess they have enough parks and electricity.

Ok... You found the 5% of the country that doesn't have the space close by. That doesn't mean that recycling on a national scale is necessary.

Cosmonauts on the space station drink their own recycled pee but that doesn't mean we should do it when its not necessary.

You need to do some research. Landfill space is a growing problem. A number of states are forced to transport their garbage to other states. You can't just put a landfill in any open space. Environmental and govt restrictions along with local citizens not wanting it in their backyard limit where landfills can be placed.

Eventually, all garbage will be trucked to the desert and the cost so prohibitive that all communities will have pay to throw garbage programs forcing people to recycle.