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Smart Trash Carts Tell If You Haven't Been Recycling

Starting next year Cleveland residents face paying a $100 fine if they don't recycle, and the city's new high-tech trash cans will keep track if they don't. The new cans are embedded with radio frequency identification chips and bar codes which keep track of how often residents take them to the curb. If the chip shows you haven't brought your recycle can out in a while, a lucky trash supervisor will go through your can looking for recyclables. From the article: "Trash carts containing more than 10 percent recyclable material could lead to a $100 fine, according to Waste Collection Commissioner Ronnie Owens. Recyclables include glass, metal cans, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard."

7 of 622 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Recycling is Bullshit by 5pp000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From TFA:

    Cleveland pays $30 a ton to dump garbage in landfills, but earns $26 a ton for recyclables.

    I wouldn't think Cleveland would spend money on "smart trash carts" unless there were some truth to this claim.

    --
    Your god may be dead, but mine aren't!
  2. Enviroment or revenue generation? by KDN · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Ticket for not taking out trash, ticket for taking out trash too early, ticket for not taking containers in early enough, ticket for too much weight in trash. Is this really helping out the environment or just a hidden way to increase taxes? I do note that their metric of success is how many tickets they issue.

  3. How to lose while being correct Re:how come by mrmeval · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Alles in ordnung

    Excessive regulation http://www.freedomworks.org/publications/the-danger-of-over-regulation

    When it becomes naturally profitable to recycle people will do so themselves. Right now I don't throw away aluminum, stainless steel, brass, copper, lead, steel, some types of glass and several plastics plus newspapers. I use the glass, plastic and newspapers myself. I've found two places that will compete for the stainless, copper, lead and brass which I happen to come across and make my collection and transport costs worthwhile. The steel and aluminum go to another salvager which is reasonably close and pays well. I do this for my own benefit and will keep doing it regardless of the states insistence I line their pockets.

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    I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
  4. Re:Recycling is Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That show (in general, and that episode in particular) are about as much proof of that assertion as something your cousin's friend's older brother said. Penn and Teller don't give you evidence, they insult things instead. (Check out their argument about subsidies. There are many pros and cons to be stated for such things, but they don't really do either. They give Teller a gun to rob Penn and then throw the cash around. Logic in action, Bullshit style!)

    Seriously, I wanted to like this show, but it's total crap. It's entertainment rather than education. It's bullshit itself.

    On the other hand, a quick Google search yielded this: http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/benefit_vs_cost.htm (and many other links). A balanced view. Recycling isn't always the answer and it's certainly not the only answer, but it's not bullshit, either.

  5. Re:Bull. Fucking. Shit. by mrnobo1024 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh, get over your entitlement mentality already. You use the waste disposal service, you play by their rules. Don't like it? Buy your own damn landfill. It's not your God-given right to fill ours' up with recyclables.

  6. Re:Recycling is Bullshit by pushing-robot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, and the people running the disposal service have rights too, including the right to run their service they way they wish.

    It's funny how the people who claim oppression are always so willing to tread on the rights of others. "Everyone has to give me what I want, how I want, when I want, for the price I want, because I have rights!"

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    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  7. Re:Recycling is Bullshit by mysidia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    non-Recycling fines sound like a great revenue opportunity for the city