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There is No Guarantee That the Products You Recycle Are Actually Recycled, the UK Watchdog Warns (bbc.co.uk)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The National Audit Office (NAO) says over half of the packaging reported as recycled is actually being sent abroad to be processed. As a result, it says, the government has little idea of whether the recyclables are getting turned into new products, buried in landfill or burned. While an illusion of success has been created by the UK's system for recycling packaging, the NAO says, the reality may be quite different. Its report finds that: The government has turned a blind eye to underlying problems with the waste system. Firms may be over-stating the amount they are recycling. The Environment Agency has only carried out 40% of the recycling checks it planned to.
Because to economically recycle plastic, it has to be source sorted by recycling # (which reflects chemistry).
Which means you need to have a half dozen plastic recycle bins, imputes a value of $0.01/hour to your time.
Also colored glass and paper is almost never actually recycled.
The bastards do this, because the sorting time looks free to them. They should be kicked square in the balls/cunt.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
As a result, it says, the government has little idea of whether the recyclables are getting turned into new products, buried in landfill or burned.
If you don't know then the answer is that they are being handled in whatever manner is least expensive and/or most profitable. Most likely that is either burning or landfill with the chances increasing the lower the energy inputs required to make new. To presume otherwise is to be naive. Steel and aluminum are probably recycled because the energy required to make new is enormous versus recycling. Plastics are probably just buried or burned or dumped in the ocean.
There is a saying that people don't do what you EXPECT, they do what you INSPECT. If you want to be sure it is being handled appropriately then you need to inspect the process to be sure. If you don't inspect then you won't get what you expect.
This is a known problem in the States too. NYC, in particular, sends over half of its "recyclables" to landfill anyway. But, not to worry, they still fine people for failing to sort their trash — whether it helps environment or not, whatever increases the government's power over the subjects is a good thing, is not it?
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Seattle sends its unsorted recycling to China.
Maybe it's time for a real ecological study on the real effects of recycling vs. simply burying everything. Our oceans deserve more than a good feeling we get by putting things in the blue bins.
We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
That's why i don't recycle because there safer in the landfill. At least its contained and cheaper for myself.
That doesn't make any sense. So, some fraction of the plastic sent to recycling doesn't actually get recycled... but it doesn't make sense to say it's "safer" to send it directly to landfill, instead of recycling some of it and then sending what's left to landfill.
Actually, in many cases it is safer, cheaper and better to just throw things in a landfill. In theory, recycling is a really great idea. But in actual practice, it often causes more pollution and environmental damage, not less.
For example, the process that is used to recycle paper involves various chemicals and as a by-product, generates many tens of thousands of tons of toxic sludge that has to be disposed of -- by dumping it into a landfill. It would be far less harmful to just throw the paper away and dump it into a landfill.
It's the same for recycling many other things as well. In many cases, the recycling process generates air, water or ground pollution that wouldn't be generated if you just throw stuff away and don't try to "recycle" it.
Recycling is also extremely expensive and just simply not economically viable. That's why the U.S. and EU export all their trash to various third world countries. The only way that recycling can even come close to be economically viable is to do it in a situation where people are paid pennies a day and where there are little or no environmental regulations.
Make the people on welfare do it. Are you able to work and getting government money? Well looks like you're going be sorting recyclables.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
I was working late one night and discovered that the cleaning crew was routinely emptying the blue trashcans with the recycle logos on the side into the same bin as the non-recyclable waste. This was back in the later-'90s and I can easily imagine this happening all over. Even today. [sigh]
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
I've always been in support of recycling even when I knew as a student all the dumpsters went into the SAME garbage truck (I saw it after school.)
Multiple parts in the process have to ALL be addressed. If you get everybody but jerks recycling that is just the 3rd part of the process. 1st part is regulating what's made, we don't hardly do that.... 2nd part is not buying stupid cheap disposable shit we do not need in the 1st place (that won't ever happen.) + more steps...
China had all those boats full of junk we bought and since they took over, we had nothing to ship back to them so they made $$$ taking our UNSORTED trash without any accountability when they got it back home. Now they don't want our trash, it's not more profitable than just buying the gas for the boat.
If we want recycling to work, we have to not be so LAZY and presort again. Then we have to BAN mixed materials because nobody seriously sorts by looking at those 1-7 labels on the plastic... That isn't even the big thing-- banning stupid things like straws is finally being done. Things like BOTTLES should have remained glass (clean and reuse) like they always were-- it's entirely corporate conspiracy to slander consumers for not recycling their forced TRASH because they want to save pennies on containers (because their competition is cheaper... hence the NEED to regulate a level playing field. just like regulations stop your business from assassinating your competition.)
Government WORKS only if YOU collectively inspect/regulate it same with corporations and the assholes that make up 1/3 of society. We get what we deserve.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
In the States in some areas we have Single Stream Recycling.
Where you put in all your recyclable (Paper, Some plastics normally the thick plastic, and Metal) materials into one bin. Then it goes and gets sorted out.
Only about 1/3 of the material actually gets recycled. However the amount of material sent over to be recycled has increased 5 fold. So overall we are better with a less efficient process, because the convenience makes it easier to increase your output.
For some reason there is a reaction if something isn't working as well as it should, we should just stop it all together. While the net benefit outweighs the cost.
I have also heard a similar type of argument against LED traffic lights. Because in a rare weather condition snow can cover the lights, and be hard to see, while incandescent bulbs create enough heat to melt the snow.
Because of this perhaps once a year occurance, people are using this to prevent LED lights, which use less energy, are cheaper to maintain, offer better viability, as well often will not die at once.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
All CD/DVDs are poly-carbonate - it's industry. But the law could say you have to PICK a standard and stay with it. So say all food containers must be PP #5? no mixed caps made from #2 or #4. All PVS must be white and all ABS must be black... kind of already happens in plumbing pipe. exceptions for classes of products... Think of it like HID class drivers. Sure some will bitch that they can't make their product different by confusing the situation-- well, tough, you can't make your bike out of radioactive materials so it glows either.
Tax the exceptions to cover the burden those things impose; that creates incentives to innovate around the taxes.... nothing seems to motivate capitalists more than avoiding taxes... we should capitalize upon that!
Obviously, globalization is a huge huge problem and tariffs need to be done... stronger than in the past and the WTO and our treaties do all seem to totally suck... Trump is right on that; but we need intelligent new ones and he appears unable to beat the bad ones we have already.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
When LEDs were first used for stop lights, they were being covered by ice and snow in northern areas during winter under some conditions. Since that time, manufacturers have modified designs so that there are heaters that activate automatically. This guy talks about how the overall benefits of LED traffic lights far outweigh the disadvantages of them in their early deployment.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
China, who was taking most of our recyclables, has stopped. Newsprint, which was going for $100 per ton, now sells for $5 a ton on the market. Recycling has failed in the US. Your recycling is going to the landfills right now.
However, there are people developing new plastic recycling techniques using chemicals instead of the standard mechanical methods. No word on if this chemical method will have an environmental impact or if it will be economically feasible. It is being developed to recycle the plastic that is floating in the ocean. There is a project underway to gather the plastic and recycle it using the new chemical method. The chemical method still requires sorting.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
Everything can be called indoctrination; did you grow up on a deserted island all by yourself? If not, then you were indoctrinated. It's all a matter of WHAT is to be indoctrinated not whether or not it is going to happen. My tribe good... better tribe than you tribe...
Does everybody question and think about everything on their own? Hell no! I wish. Most the planet is religious; oh yes, religion is fundamentally indoctrination. Is it bad? sometimes. Is it good? Well, i don't want to argue with everybody I meet to convince them it's a bad idea to kill me and take my stuff... Surely, you'd want some indoctrination and LAWS that align with that. Some laws go too far some not far enough; where you get upset is when it doesn't align with your values. Oh, BTW, where did you get your values? (hint: topic is indoctrination.)
Stupid people need simple directions to follow with simple reasons. God said so ;-)
Seriously, even us smarter educated people have plenty of stupid moments; to be stupid sometimes IS to be human...arguably it IS the normal human state; after all, cognitive psychology keeps proving that point further.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news