It’s time for somebody to say this again.
- Much of what goes into the recycling bins ends up as trash in a landfill, because either the material can’t be recycled, or it is economically not feasible.
- We have plenty of space for landfills, so don’t feel guilty about throwing it in the trash.
- Most plastic cannot be recycled.
- Recycling paper and aluminum cans works.
Stella's Place 
“Religion” is right. I think it was Lovecraft who commented that those without a religion seem to have to find something to replace it in their lives. My sister recycles like this. And it is majorly stupid.
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I recycle cardboard, paper and cans (mostly aluminum). That’s it.
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I give newspapers & aluminum to the SPCA b/c they ues the paper in cages, and sell the aluminum.
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Most of the paper I recycle is cardboard. Good idea about the aluminum cans.
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All my plastic waste products are recycled. All of them. And it’s done using the best recycling technology available today for such a task. It’s called an incinerator. Plastics are hydrocarbons. They create substantial heat energy when they burn. That heat boils water into steam which is directed to a turbine that powers a generator. All my plastic waste products are recycled into electricity. The only thing that hits the landfill is the ash left after combustion.
This may not be the beat-all, fix-all, best thing in the world to be doing, but it solves the issue of otherwise un-recyclable plastics overflowing landfills for all eternity or worse, winding up in the ocean, while at the same time generating much needed electricity. Sure, there are going to be some stack emissions in the burn process, but they are held to a minimum by incorporating the best stack scrubbing technology currently available. It might not be the perfect solution, but I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
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What municipality is that? Sounds very forward.
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In the U.S. most facilities are in the northeast. For a more in-depth look at the technology, and some of the controversies that surround them, do an internet search for “waste to energy power plants.”
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can’t condemn those who “over prepare” recycling. For a number of years, if you wanted to recycle, you had to follow the sometimes strict standards of the municipality. Separating recyclables was the norm. Quality of the recyclable material was higher “clean stream”, and better prices were paid.
Then standards were lowered to encourage “more” recycling. It literally became a dirty secret that it wasn’t producing better recycling. “Dirty stream” combined recycling became the norm. It’s essentially trash with the most saleable items cherry-picked out of the mess, but the items are still worth less than “clean stream” recycling.
Glass recycling seems to be falling by the wayside, except in states that mandate bottle returns. The glass from single stream “dirty recycling” costs more to clean and lowers the profit margin. And that is a shame, because glass re-use and recycling is one of the older, more beneficial forms of recycling.
Like many of you, I looked closely at what was actually being achieved, and decided to limit what was placed in the recycling bin to that which was most likely to be recycled.
But, it was never touted as a “profit making” endeavor, simply a reflection of the time honored value of keeping waste to a minimum.
Our good intentions were co-opted and corrupted by those with ulterior motives.
“One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.” – Thomas Sowell
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As an addendum.
Some of the filthiest containers I have ever encountered were recycling bins. They were literally pest magnets.
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