Your Questions About Recycling
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Filed under Recycling Q & A
Betty asks…
am i recycling the wrong things?
i am kind of a phoebe about recycling. i try to recycle everything i can and wish more people would do the same.
my question is about plastics. if it doesn’t have the signature “recycling triangle” on the product, can it still be recycled? or am i just wasting someones time by throwing these items in recycling bins? for example, on the bottom of this pudding cup it says “HS1” and underneath it says “26”. does that mean it’s recyclable? i also wonder about things like bread bags and food wrappers like ramen noodle packages…..? anybody have any knowledge on this stuff?
The Expert answers:
Contact your local town office or recycling collector for a list of all items THEY recycle.If they take it place it in the bin if not yes you are wasting there time and possibly yes ruin(contaminate) a batch of melted plastics.Not all plastics are recyclable they need to have the number inside a (the) triangle no triangle throw in the trash you will make someones job a whole lot easier
Lisa asks…
Has anyone else noticed a recent surge in advertising leaflets put through the letter box?
It is virtually an epidemic. On average 2 or 3 lots per day, each with up to 10 leaflets. None of them are read, they go straight into the recycle bin. What a complete waste of time and resources?
It is not the P.O. doing the delivery but private firms. I was not moaning but asking if others had the same issue.
The Expert answers:
We get so much its hard to believe not from the post but in news papers and thou the door. So how much is it costing these super markets why can they not take it off the goods instead of paying out for leaflets which we just bin
Donald asks…
Recycling Recycling I dont understand?
When will councils get their act together. My local council accepts Greeting Cards (covered in tinsel and ribbon) but not the card sleeve that covers Microwaved meals, the card that Tea Bags boxes are made of etc. This leaves precious little for me to put in the box each week. Seems a total waste of time to me
The Expert answers:
Different places have different rules. In order to recycle some products, they have to be broken down into stuff you can recycle. This costs more, and if the city won’t shell out the extra bucks to take these particular waste products to a place that can recycle it. Then the city will clamp down on what they will take for recycling.
David asks…
How can Walmart take all types of plastic for recycling?
Our local landfill does not take plastic for recycling because it takes up too much space and is too costly since they have to send it out of state. (so I’m told by the person who works there)
Walmart has now been taking plastic for recycling lately, but they don’t specify which plastic they will take. I’ve asked the people working there and they tell me they take any plastic, but honestly, I think they have no clue about it. I know plastic has different numbers on it. From what I understand, some numbers can be recycled, others not.
My question then is, how can Walmart take ALL plastics and where do they take it to? Do they really recycle it all or am I wasting my time? I’m collecting all numbers of plastic and bringing it to them. I’m wondering what they do with it…
Are you serious John? …that’s what I’m afraid of happening with the plastic…
The Expert answers:
If you are worried about walmart stop going there or at least stop taking plastic there go to www.earth911.com and enter your zip code and what you have it will tell you the nearest place that accepts it also it will explain the 7 plastics to you.
John asks…
Is there anyone out there who apart from me who does not believe in recycling their rubbish?
I think it is a complete waste of time to be quite honest.I have 4 wheelie bins in my garden but I only use one of them. Why should I separate all of my rubbish when that is what I pay council tax for. Why should I do their job for them? Bin men of today in my opinion are just lazy bastards. Years ago they had to go round your back and lift big heavy metal bins empty the rubbish and then put the bin back. Now they have got it easy. Who really cares about what happens to the environment it 100 years time we wont be around to care so why bother recycling it is going to mean F all to us. I would like to know how many other people out there don’t recycle and your own opinions on it.
I admit I am lazy but I enjoy being that way. And I do have kids but what has that got to do with anything?
The Expert answers:
I agree 100%.
One day my bin was unemptied because (i think) they saw a bottle in it. It wasn’t the first time and on sunday after a few beers i thought about it and snapped. I loaded my rubbish into 3 bin liners , drove to the local council offices and dumped it outside their front door. I did not consider this fly tipping as i was only taking it to the people to whom i already pay £900p.a to deal with it.
A lot of stuff nowadays is stored in warehouses and not recycled since the chinese market for this stuff dropped.
Robert asks…
what are your opinions on Hi-5 recycling law? do they cheat you? weigh or not to weigh?
One time, I had a count of my recycle stuff and got the 5 cents of each. Recently, they cheated me by weighing the plastics and they have no weight, so I was cheated 48 bottles. How accurate are those scales? I wasted my time counting everything, so they should have honored my count of the plastic bottles. Instead of weighing the plastic bottles, they should have a count done.
The Expert answers:
In california we pay a set amount for the redemption value, I believe it is 5 cents. Now if we pay five cents per container, then we should get back 5 cents. Weight is just an easy way to count items that are considered bulk. If each can weighs a specific amount, you would then have to take your total weight and divide it by the weight of the single can and that would give you the number of cans total. Plastic is the same, however the cost of a scale sensitive enough to accurately weigh a small amount of bottles would probably have to be deducted from the price of the bottles. Which would mean that you would not get back all of your deposit, I am just very happy that we are able to recycle and I am OK with the small price of helping to clean up the earth!
Chris asks…
Are we really helping the planet when we recycle?
I am really into recycling, but many people tell me that I am wasting my time. They either tell me that it all goes to the dump with the rest of the trash, or that it just doesn’t make a difference, or that the recycling process puts out at least as much pollution as what is being recycled so it’s a wash. What do you think?
Should I try to be virtuous and get the eco-friendly Toyota Prius, or should I just go for the hot Porche Cayenne I’m lusting after?
The Expert answers:
Recycling does NOT go to the landfill. Some places like Philadelphia, PA have even made it LAW to recycle. Trash you toss out that includes recycling will get you a fine.
If you have a local recycling center, go for a visit and get educated on their processes. We have curbside pick up for a few recyclables but most of ours goes to a recycling center that takes just about everything. He even takes used veggie oil to power his car.
Sounds like your friends are making excuses for their own behavior and like to think that when they toss something out, it simply ‘disappears’. Well, I live near a few major landfills and it doesn’t disappear at all. Some items too can lead to heavy metal contamination of table water and soil in the area. Like CFL lightbulbs? They contain mercury. Batteries can leak all sorts of chemicals once in a landfill.
Keep on keepin’ on, you’re doing fine. Reduce your need to recycle by buying things that last or have minimum of packaging, recycle everything you can and go to http://www.freecycle.org for things that are too good to toss out but you simply don’t want. Reuse things too when you can.
Actually our ancestors used to do these things out of frugality more so than the environment. That’s how things like quilts and scrapple (a Pennsylvania ‘meat’ product that used to use up all scraps of meat) got invented… The need to make something usable out of little things that alone, aren’t good enough but together are perfect.
As for the cars, really do your homework on MPG and drive the car gently. No foot stomping on either the accelerator or the brake… The Prius is designed for you to be aware of how much gas you’re using and can challenge you to get better but really there are some great gas-easy cars. I just picked up a Toyota Corolla that gets 40hwy mpg and it’s manual, so I can coast a lot and I can ease up on how much gas I use that way too.
The only thing that’s questionable to recycle these days are computers. Very well meaning people are paying special computer recycling companies to recycle these things and very often, they’re ending up in China and creating a big mess over their for the health of the people working with the chemicals used to strip the computers and their part of the planet over there too. However, there’s enough heavy metal components in PCs and all their ‘friends’ that tossing it out in the trash is a no-no too. Hopefully China will clean up their act soon and protect the health of their people and the planet.
James asks…
Is recycling in Braintree, Essex a farce?
I live in the Braintree District and have for some time now been separating out all the ‘green’ and kitchen/food waste, paper and card, stapled magazines, ‘grey’ general waste and brown. green and clear glass.
I have been told by several people that it is a waste of time since all the refuse is still going to landfill and all the glass is too expensive to transport for recycling to a glass works that would be interested in receiving it, and so is also sent to landfill.
Can anybody shed any light on this specific authority, or comment on any others that may be acting similarly?
Just seen one of the recycling vehicles go past, stopped to pick up the paper/card sack and the bag of separate ‘stapled’ magazines and they both went in the back together.
The Expert answers:
A few years ago there was uproar in Hampshire as the County Council was doing exactly what you’ve described above, allegedly. I’m not sure if it was the whole of Hampshire or just Winchester (allegedly) but it came to light that due to staff shortages a lot of the carefully separated, household recycling was being sent to landfill; not enough operatives employed to sort it so what was not sorted went to landfill.
Scandalous but it’s perfectly possible that it can happen as sorting the stuff is quite labour-intensive and if jobs need to be cut then that’s an area in which money could be saved without a direct (or even noticeable) impact.
If you think it’s possible that this is happening in Braintree, write and ask them or ask your local paper to look into it.
Ken asks…
Do a bit of help with my answers for my oral topics…?
I’ve got my Russian oral coming up after easter and I’m stuck with talking about the environment and tourism. I’ve been giving some questions but I honestly am a bit stuck what to answer back… even in English.. would you guys help me out and give me some tips on how I can answer these in ENGLISH so I can then translate it to Russian?? Oh, altogether, my answers must add up to about 5 mins!!
1. Are young people interested in the environment?
2. People think recycling is a waste of time, do you agree?
3. People travel a lot, do you think this is bad for the environment?
4. Do you travel often?
Obviously, I must elaborate on each question quite a lot to get 5 mins from the 4 questions together, so like over a minute for each question!
The Expert answers:
1.yes
2.yes
4.no
5.yes
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