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A comment on The Reign of Recycling.

Re:The Reign of Recycling by ScottBurson on Sunday October 04, 2015 @02:43PM (#10328369)
Although I've been a dedicated recycler for years, I'm glad to read this. It confirms an impression I had already received from various other sources, that the primary value is separating out metals (especially aluminum) and paper -- actually I didn't know that recycling paper made such a big difference -- and plastics are secondary.

Is it worth rinsing plastic to recycle it? I've wondered about this. Sounds like it probably isn't unless it takes only a small amount of rinsing.

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Re:The Reign of Recycling by akjj on Sunday October 04, 2015 @05:10PM (#10328838)
> the primary value is separating out metals (especially aluminum) and paper

Especially cardboard. Cardboard is significantly more valuable than other types of paper.

> Is it worth rinsing plastic to recycle it? I've wondered about this. Sounds like it probably isn't unless it takes only a small amount of rinsing.

The article argues that it isn't if you rinse in hot water, which was heated by electricity (not gas), which came from a coal power plant. That seems like a comparison which is set up to make recycling look bad. I've never had any problems just rinsing plastic with cold water or leftover dish water, in which case it sounds like it's still worth it.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The Reign of Recycling by ZeroGravitas on Sunday October 04, 2015 @03:11PM (#10328457)
With efficient optical sorters, some pure plastics where fetching as much as aluminium by weight. I'm guessing the plummeting oil prices may have had an impact here though.
[ Parent | on HN ]