SorryNotSorry Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 A week before this summer began, a very busy and very well-paying recycling company in another part of town announced they'd no longer be accepting recyclables from individuals—only from municipal waste companies. A few of them in other parts of town will still pay individuals for recyclables, but I very quickly found out there's no messageboard, forum, or even any local meetup group where anyone can go online and find out where all these recycling centers are, along with their hours of operation plus the going rates they pay for aluminum cans, glass bottles, PETE plastic, etc. I wonder if there's some kind of state law which prevents this because it would give some recyclers an unfair advantage over others in dealing with the public? I know much of their business and the prices they're able to pay depend on how much the big commodity re-users are willing to pay them for their tons of scrap, but I can see how making their prices accessible on the web would allow the high-paying ones to put the lower-paying ones out of business. Link to post Share on other sites
RoseGoesToYale Posted June 22, 2019 Share Posted June 22, 2019 Hmm... unfortunately, it may just be a side-effect of competition. If it's a private recycling company, as long as they're not violating any labor/criminal laws or consumer protections, they can set up their operations however they please. However, if the decision loses them enough money from regular recyclers, it may come back to bite them. You can always start a thread on Reddit etc. and see if anyone has info on the other places. Link to post Share on other sites
Sally Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 It could also have to do with the fact that China no longer wants to receive US recyclables, so the recyclable companies only want to deal with municipality contracts they have. Link to post Share on other sites
Amcan Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 On 6/23/2019 at 1:49 AM, Sally said: It could also have to do with the fact that China no longer wants to receive US recyclables, so the recyclable companies only want to deal with municipality contracts they have. It's causing issues for the UK too. https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/china-plastic-import-ban-uk-recycling-landfill-options-waste-crisis-disposal-a8097166.html (old article but point still stands) Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 The problem is that there are so many different plastics, and if you have a pallet-sized bale of plastic it's not economic to separate the different types. Using it as waste to energy isn't a clean burn either. Link to post Share on other sites
SorryNotSorry Posted June 25, 2019 Author Share Posted June 25, 2019 Ah, well... we still have good old aluminum cans. The reason why this stuff is so highly recyclable is because it takes a lot of electricity to smelt new aluminum from its ores. Copper pays ok too, and it's one reason I kept my old building inspector ID card long after I decided the gig wasn't a good fit for me. Link to post Share on other sites
Amcan Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 13 hours ago, Skycaptain said: The problem is that there are so many different plastics, and if you have a pallet-sized bale of plastic it's not economic to separate the different types. Using it as waste to energy isn't a clean burn either. A lot of local authorities will only accept certain plastics for recycling purposes these days. Link to post Share on other sites
SorryNotSorry Posted June 26, 2019 Author Share Posted June 26, 2019 16 hours ago, Amcan said: A lot of local authorities will only accept certain plastics for recycling purposes these days. True dat!!! #2, #5, and #6 are all heavily used, and some recycling centers will accept them if they explicitly have something on them about redemption value. The catch is, most such things don't. Link to post Share on other sites
Amcan Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Something I noticed today is that reeds for musical instruments are sold in plastic cases that you can't put in the plastic recycling. The reed itself is biodegradable and yet the cases they are sold in are heavier and denser and made of plastic. Madness. (clarinet reeds are the ones I use for reference) Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Jakemans throat and chest sweets from the manufacturer (twin pack) Pallet wrap = bin Big box = cardboard recyclable Cellophane wrap = bin Wholesale box = cardboard recyclable Plastic wrap = non-recycleable Wrap round packet = non-recycleable Wrap round sweet = non-recycleable Link to post Share on other sites
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