Your Questions About Recycling
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Filed under Recycling Q & A
Lizzie asks…
Does Walmart accept plastic shopping bags for recycling?
We shouldn’t use the bags anyway (so no preaching on this, please), but for those we have, Walmart used to collect them in bins at the front of their stores for recycling (‘better than in a landfill). In fact, they committed last year to increasing the bin sizes and state ALL their stores have the bins. Yet I have found some stores without the bins and the managers there stating Walmart discontinued the program over a year ago. This is in contrast to what their official statements read.
Can anyone answer whether their Walmarts still offer this or any hard facts to Walmart’s move to stop doing this?
Please stick to the actual question. Does Walmart still offer the collection bins or have they ceased doing so? (Please save comments on what they do with them and other recycling concerns for a question that specifically asks that. If you can’t directly answer the question posed, there’s no need to answer at all.)
The Expert answers:
After reading the other answers, which clearly deviate from the original question, I would like to offer my simple answer which is that yes, the SuperWalmart in my home town of Olathe KS still provides the bag recycling. But if Walmart ceases to offer this service I can always take my bags to Price Chopper.
Steven asks…
the REALITY Of RECYCLING? ? ?
Hello 🙂
I am really confused, curious and open minded in terms of IF recycling is REAL or not
Is recycling just a way to create jobs?…or does it ACTUALLY work in terms of helping out environment
please do not tell me the obvious without stating any actual references and facts
for example don’t say “recycling is better for the earth b/c it keeps garbage out of landfills”…this doesn’t mean anything as I’ve read MANY and I mean MANY references which state that it takes WAY more energy to recycle paper, glass etc than landfills…aluminum is good to recycle but the others is better in landfills is what I’ve been hearing and reading
I also read that with our current technology we can USE the natural gas from landfills?
PLEASE HELP ME UNDERSTAND
it’s so expensive to recycle (the bags are very expensive to me) and it’s very timely and unorganized in my city and area….
Please inform me with as much information as you’re able
thanks 🙂
The Expert answers:
Recycling is not the only objective here. We should be doing the best for the next generation and not wasting the planet’s resources. Hence the message should be the three Rs. Reduce, Reuse and only then Recycle. Only buy what you need, reuse your bags until they fall apart and then use stronger ones. Complain if the things you buy come with excessive packing. Only then recycle and use as many of the raw materials to produce new things.
The economics of recycling are difficult to predict and sometimes even if recycling plastic is cost effective, there may not be the processors
to buy that plastic and it may end in landfill. However, in the UK landfill is getting more and more rare as sites are disappearing and there is a tax of around £32 per tonne to dump any waste in landfill, therefore swinging the costs in favour of recycling.
However, recycling is generally very cost effective. Aluminium uses twenty times more energy to produce from ore than it does from a recycled cans. Even given the costs to transfer to the smelter, this is hugely cost effective.
When our food waste and other organic material rots in an environment deprived of air, such as landfill, it produces methane. However, most landfills are badly organised to collect the gases produced and it disappears into the atmosphere, having a small impact on climate change itself, as methane is a potent greenhouse gas. It would be far better to use a dedciated bio-digester. This not only produces better yields of gas than just dumping it, but it also means that the non-digested remains can be used as potting compost and soil conditioner for the garden trade, reducing the need to dig up peat from lowland bogs, themselves a threatened environment.
If your local authority is not using a anaerobic digester, it makes sense to try and compost your food waste in your garden if you have one, using a method where the waste is open to the air and digests aerobically, avoiding the productionn of methane. This will save lots of money on transporting it to a composter or landfill, which is paid for out of your local taxes.
All in all, conservation and recycling is just going away from spend spend spend and back to common sense, in my view.
Betty asks…
i am doing a persuasive speech can you give me some facts pleeease help me
why every single park in the state of New York should have a plastic recycling bin.
The Expert answers:
Look at Cost-benefit analysis on this URL for the answer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling
Sandra asks…
Can someone elaborate on the uses and how to use Rifiuti v1.0?
I am currently trying to work with Rifiuti v1.0 (A free tool from foundstone tools) and I am not quite understanding it. I am also trying to do a presentation on it as well so I need to know the uses of it other than the simple fact that it does recycle bin analysis. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
The Expert answers:
Take a look at Foundstone’s web site. They have a pretty good setup to help you learn their software.
James asks…
whats going on with a no buy list for recycling metals listing names of felons?
There is suppose to be a no buy list for recycling metals such as aluminum cans.This is to have names of people whom are felons.If a felon you can not recycle.But from my knowledge there are felons still able to recycle.This has to be some kind of descrimination.Its not fair that only some felons are listed and also ones that are not.Its really a dumbest heard of.A felon cant recycle to help the planet.There was complaints on how there was to much trash polluting and try to get everyone to contribute to seperating and recycling.But If your a felon you can not contribute to help saving our planet.The police need to get rid of this nonsense list or they can be responsible for the pollution of trash that cant be recycled cause of being a felon regardless to the fact that the crime was paid by doing the time.Everyone should be able to help with saving our planet.Even the criminals.Thank You
The Expert answers:
Well the thing is, the felons are nnot recycling to save the planet; they are recycling to get the money.
At any metal recycling facility (aka scrap yard), you can get payed to bring in metals such as copper, aluminum, steel ect.
All of these metals will get you money; for example, copper will get you payed $3.30 per pound of clean copper. So, if I run into home depot, steal $1,000 worth of copper tubing, and sell it to a scrap yard, I can make $200.
This type of theft is a very serious, and destructive type of felony. Check out this story of metal theft: http://scrappingmetal.blogspot.com/2010/10/metal-theft.html
Charles asks…
Are aluminum cans less harmful to the environment than plastic water bottles?
I was talking to my friend about making stuff out of aluminum cans, and I said I never drink out of aluminum cans, I always drink out of water bottles and then use them a few times before recycling them. (I’m a biology freak, and becoming a Chemistry freak the longer I’m in the class, so I’m very concerned about the environment.) So then she told me that aluminum cans were better for the environment than plastic water bottles. I asked her how she knew, and she just said “facts. theres not as many chemicals needed to make aluminum cans as there are for water bottles.” That doesn’t sound quite right to me as an explanation, but even so… is that true? If so (or even if not), could you please link an internet source on it if you can find one? I was trying to find information on it but couldn’t find anything. Also, I know that plastic water bottles can be harmful to your health because some of them contain polycarbonate. Do aluminum cans pose any health risks (besides cutting your tongue on the little sharp part, which I used to do all the time)? Thanks for your time. =)
Unfortunately steel water bottles aren’t an option. Before I started taking Aerobics I was using a reusable plastic bottle made from Rubbermaid (I didn’t know about steel water bottles then), but my teacher requires disposable water bottles for some reason. Weird, huh?
I will definitely be getting one of those Klear Kanteens once the course is over in May, though. Thanks so much. =)
Blame Bush, thanks for somewhat accusing me without offering any helpful information. =/
The Expert answers:
It seems to me that plastic is in some way toxic at all levels. It starts out as oil and degrades each time you recycle it, and it never dies. It just gets smaller and smaller.
Clear plastic does leak pretty nasty poison.
Aluminum has been linked by some people to various diseases but the link isn’t really clear.
Like oil, there is also a finite amount of it. Aluminum, however, is almost infinitely recyclable. Even if it takes more energy, it is still better because it won’t stick around in the environment, poisoning and choking things for millions of years. By using plastic at all, you feed the demand for it(and plastic is evil, as far as I am concerned). Also, recycling aluminum is better than recycling plastic in the long run because it won’t degrade until it is useless. It will always have a bunch of uses when you recycle it.
John asks…
Is it okay for my cat to have a 100% fish diet?
My cat has fallen in love with Whiskas’ Purrrfectly Fish meals but hates the chicken and beef flavors. I love the fact that these meals come in pouches (No more recycling cans of cat food!), they’re not so expensive and they seem to be high quality food. But it is okay if I just feed my cat fish for the rest of her life? Are there any health concerns with a 100% fish diet?
The Expert answers:
“Seem to be” high quality food? According to whom? Whiskas is GARBAGE. And fish is VERY bad to feed to your cats – http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whyfishisdangerousforcats A better quality food made with chicken would be MUCH healthier for your cat.
Not sure why you think it’s good that the food comes in pouches. The pouches aren’t recyclable and therefore end up in a landfill forever. The cans are recyclable and hence can be used for more products. Is rinsing out a cat food cat once or twice a day REALLY that much of a chore to you?
Ken asks…
Better economic value to the environment? Bottles vs Cans.?
This has to do with drinks of all kinds. This isn’t a simple question either. 1 liter PET vs 12 12oz cans.
Considering the actual economic value of the capitol used to produce bottles and cans, the environmental harm caused by creating a new bottle or can, and considering this item will be recycled, which is a better actual value? Price has no object here, just actual value.
This question is concerning the cost of oil vs metal, energy used for creation and recycling. That added with the environmental cost of refining that item into its final character plus the environmental cost of extracting those. Obviously oil is more scarce of a resource and is recycled far less in comparison to aluminum. Plus the fact oil is now at an all time high for cost per barrel.
Don’t tell me recycling is good or give me some half answer. This is a very complicated question, I just hope there are some environmental economists out there.
Maybe I wasn’t specific enough, they don’t give you a ton of room to ask a question. By “price” I meant store price. I didn’t want people to take into account the cost of purchase at the store. I wanted to know the economic value of the packaging, not the product. i.e. the bottle not the pop in it.
Also, when I said “no half answers” I meant I don’t want people just saying things like “recycling is good” or “I think this one is better” and not giving a solid reason why. It’s all too common on here to get a bunch of answers that don’t really answer anything.
Additionally, if you read the title… this is about PET bottles vs cans. I don’t take into account glass or paper because they aren’t widely used as packaging materials. Not like plastics or aluminum. This is largely in reference to soda and somewhat juices or other similar drinks. Not taking into account milk or other juices in the refrigerated section that are packaged in paper and not taking into account bottles which are used mostly for alcoholic beverages. My main purchase is for soda so that’s more of what this is pertaining to.
The Expert answers:
Yes, this is a complicated question, but it is clear from your comment that “price has no object here, just actual value” that you don’t understand what you are asking. And your parting remark, “[don’t] give me some half answer” confirms that.
The fundamental issue is that there is not just one resource at issue here but multiple resources. So if one approach uses more of A and less of B than another, you have to compare the value of A and B to determine which approach is better. If you are not going to use price, how are you going to compare? If you are going to use, which prices should you use?
Economists have wrestled with this for decades with no clear answer. And, of course, the problem gets much harder when there are more than 2 resources involved.
Just for some examples of issues that have to be dealt with:
1. Glass bottles take less energy to make than aluminum, and don’t require oil at all, but are heavier and entail higher transportation costs. The transportation costs aren’t important if the bottles aren’t transported far.
Also, it used to be that glass was heavily recycled – I remember when milk came in glass bottles that were actually reused – but no longer. Do we take the theoretical capability (reuse after cleaning)? The current recycling practice (remelting – taking more energy), or current practice (very few glass bottles actually getting recycled?
Bear in mind that glass is essentially inert – it doesn’t degrade but it doesn’t poison the environment either.
The fact that you didn’t even mention glass is an indication of current mind-set. Most consumers don’t particularly like it for larger volumes, because of its weight and fragility. Ditto for producers. How do we factor that into the equation?
2. Aluminum cans take a great deal of electricity to produce, even when recycling is taken into account. So much so, that all the aluminum refineries are near hydro-power plants – electricity from fossil fuels is just too expensive. How do you trade off all that energy with the fact that it comes from renewable sources?
On the one hand, if that electricity weren’t used to produce aluminum, some of it, at least, could be used to replace electricity produced from coal.
On the other hand, it is much cleaner energy than coal or oil.
3. Another material you haven’t considered is paper. It doesn’t work well for gallons of milk, but it clearly does work for half-gallons and quarts so it should work for juice and other fruit drinks even it doesn’t work for carbonated beverages.
Yet while orange and grapefruit juices come in paper, very few other drinks do.
Thomas asks…
what do you think of these Chuck Norris facts?
Chuck Norris can delete the recycling bin in Windows.
Chuck Norris can win a Connect Four game in 3 moves.
When Chuck Norris pees, he clogs the toilet.
Chuck Norris got kicked out of an airplane by putting his finger up and yelling “BOOM!”
These are America’s most deadliest ways of death:
1. AIDS
2. Chuck Norris
3. Mesotheleoma
The Great Wall of China was built to keep Chuck Norris away.
tell me what yeh think. pretty good, eh?
The Expert answers:
1 and 3 was kinda funny
5 was incorrect and 6 was ok
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