People are recycling too much garbage, and it's threatening the industry

Re:People are recycling too much garbage, and it's threateni... by njarboe on Thursday June 21, 2018 @02:04AM (#17362530)

Modern dumps are sealed very well and can hold huge amounts. At $50 a ton we will never run out of space. Put everything in the dump. Plastic, green waste, garbage, paper, electronics, etc. Sort out pure metals like steel and aluminum. Do methane recovery on the pile and burn it for power. This will sequester a lot of carbon and at some point these dumps are likely to be mined as ore bodies. People can compost at their home if they like, but moving all this green waste around is costly and causes many plant diseases to spread much more quickly. Not to mention how horrible it is to get a load of chipped wood to put on your yard that has poison oak mixed in.

We don't really need this little ritual of recycling to cleanse us of our consumerism sins. If we are really trying to help the environment, reduce, repair, and reuse is much more effective. Buy high quality stuff that lasts a long time.

Edit: Another bonus is that you and your neighbors only have to be woken up early once a week by the one garbage truck that comes by instead of three times with the current separate garbage, recycling, green waste trucks.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:People are recycling too much garbage, and it's threateni... by Freestyler_3 on Thursday June 21, 2018 @05:19AM (#17363393)

I have heard an argument that seperating the plastic (seperate garbage truck once a week) is actually worse for the environment and costs more. But local governments think of it as a huge succes because they only measure how much is seperated in the new proces, not how it compares in all aspects.

The reason it costs more is because workers still have to seperate plastics from other types of plastic. Also the garbage truck every week, which is also the reason for more pollution.

Plus all in all, the seperating plastics makes people moraly satisfied ( "they did their part, now back to buying more shit" ).

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:People are recycling too much garbage, and it's threateni... by jarvelov on Thursday June 21, 2018 @08:59AM (#17364646)

Regarding the multiple garbage trucks, there is at least the possibility of the truck having multiple separate containers to store different types of garbage.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:People are recycling too much garbage, and it's threateni... by Freestyler_3 on Sunday June 24, 2018 @06:06AM (#17385860)

Not here, they are different trucks completely.

This city also has 3 systems which require at least 2 different truck types just for mixed garbage. (bags, underground container and bins)

Then there is the greens bin and the trucks for that. The paper bin and the trucks for those. And the plastics are picked up as bags or from a big collection container, so I guess thats 2 different trucks as well.

note: also there are big collection containers for paper and glass, which have different trucks as well.

[ Parent | on HN ]