Where Will Our Recycles Go?

[braumeister]

Does it? Or is there some other economic penalty involved to make it work? Or do they just think it works, and it goes the places our recycles go?

I really don't know the answer to that, and am curious.

Beer bottles in Germany are much heavier (made of thicker glass) for durability. They go back to the brewery and are used over and over. A bottle can be reused for many years.

Here is a typical bottle washing machine in a Munich brewery. It does 60,000 bottles per hour, and there are usually a few of these in operation at one time. It may sound funny, but these are very high tech machines.

 

[JoeWras]

When I've bought groceries in Germany, you can get a plastic shopping bag--but they charge about 25 cents each. It seems to be an effective way of getting people to bring their own bags, and less heavy-handed than forbidding the sale of plastic bags

Lidl imported this custom to the USA in their stores. Not sure, but Aldi may also. I have to admit, it works for us - we always remember to bring our reusables.

It may sound funny, but these are very high tech machines.

Not funny at all. They have to deal with a lot of oddball issues like chips, cracks, people using them as ashtrays, etc., etc.

 

[samclem]

Lidl imported this custom to the USA in their stores. Not sure, but Aldi may also. I have to admit, it works for us - we always remember to bring our reusables.

Yes, Aldi is the same. I forget and buy bags most of the time. I don't feel guilty about it, bought or not I re-use most of the bags.
Aldi also has the funny 25 cent deposit for a shopping cart, which seems to work great-- folks bring them back and they don't need to pay an employee to drag them back. Don't want to push the cart back? Just leave it in the parking lot, some other customer (maybe me!) will return it to get your quarter.
Reuseable shopping bags don't seem entirely trouble free. A hassle to drag around and not exactly clean after a few dozen round trips. Then the bagger gets to wrestle with various-size dirty wrinkled up bags, and his delay slows down the line.

 

[Amethyst]

More a littering issue than a recycling one, but ever since people in our neighborhood stopped mowing their own lawns, around the mid-2000's or so, we have noticed a big uptick in fast-food trash strewn on the side street wherever trees obscure the view of homes.

We strongly suspect the landscapers of throwing their lunch trash where no one will see them doing it. In a nearby neighborhood, where no trees block the view of homes, we never see trash on the street.

 

[Midpack]

I forget and buy bags most of the time. I don't feel guilty about it, bought or not I re-use most of the bags.

Reuseable shopping bags don't seem entirely trouble free. A hassle to drag around and not exactly clean after a few dozen round trips. Then the bagger gets to wrestle with various-size dirty wrinkled up bags, and his delay slows down the line.

We leave 6 reusable grocery bags in the trunk of both our cars always. If we didn’t, I’m sure we’d forget to bring them. We’ve used the same bags for years, and they’re still clean...

 

[misanman]

Our DIL has been really conscientious about using reusable bags. A while ago she had them in her cart and when she turned to get something off a shelf someone stole them! Just shows how far people will go to be environmentally friendly!

 

[Philliefan33]

We leave 6 reusable grocery bags in the trunk of both our cars always. If we didn’t, I’m sure we’d forget to bring them. We’ve used the same bags for years, and they’re still clean...

That’s my solution also. I prefer the reusable bags because they can hold more and have nice handles. I can usually get all of my groceries in three or four bags.

Occasionally I wipe them out with a damp cloth or bleach wipe.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

We leave 6 reusable grocery bags in the trunk of both our cars always. If we didn’t, I’m sure we’d forget to bring them. We’ve used the same bags for years, and they’re still clean...

+1

My problem is that I tend to leave them in the trunk. I need to get better at that.

DW has to remind the strapping young bag boys not to completely fill the reusable bags to the point where she can't lift them.

 

[samclem]

We leave 6 reusable grocery bags in the trunk of both our cars always. If we didn’t, I’m sure we’d forget to bring them. We’ve used the same bags for years, and they’re still clean...

I did give that a try, but the bags were too handy. Now they are filled with tools and supplies a several different locations. The best reuseable bags were from Ikea-- giant woven polypropylene
things that are virtually indestructible.

Many folks will be happy that Kroger now asks shoppers if they want their milk in a bag. I always want to say "Of course I do. Have you seen the fridge where you guys store the milk? Spilled, old milk on shelves and the bottles. Would you lick that milk bottle? No. Because it is filthy. I don't want it against my car's upholstery. So put it in a bag!"

I'm not a curmudgeon.

 

[aja8888]

Many folks will be happy that Kroger now asks shoppers if they want their milk in a bag. I always want to say "Of course I do. Have you seen the fridge where you guys store the milk? Spilled, old milk on shelves and the bottles. Would you lick that milk bottle? No. Because it is filthy. I don't want it against my car's upholstery. So put it in a bag!"

I'm not a curmudgeon.

Factoid: You NEVER want to spill milk on an auto carpet. It will 'spoil" and smell like fresh puke. (Ask me how I know)

It is also not easy to clean it.

 

[NW-Bound]

Recently, I was curious about how they process the contents of the recycle bins where I live.

I searched the Web and found this.

 

[HFWR]

Seems to work in much of Europe.

Worked here, too. In fact, I spent the summer of ‘72 sorting returns at a Coke warehouse. I didn’t say it wouldn’t work, only that there are trade-offs. The reason for plastic was it’s cheaper, lighter, and less labor intensive.

Most all “solutions” to environmental problems involve higher costs...

 

[NW-Bound]

I looked on youtube, and saw that throughout the world people collect scrap aluminum such as from soda cans, then melt it down to make kitchen utensils, or even some machine parts.

 

[audreyh1]

We’ve used reusable bags for over 20 years. We had a nearby Whole Foods that supplied them. For a long time, at least a decade, other stores would have no idea what do to with these bags at checkout and DH would usually do the packing. The confusión was rather comical, but DH got very good at packing!

I remember Al Gore asking “Paper or Plastic?”, and thinking why didn’t he know about bringing your own reusable bags? But they weren’t that common back in 2000. Only the “health food” type stores were encouraging them.

For the last 10 years reusable bags have become very common. No more confusion.

One wild thing - we still have some of those old green Whole Foods bags
> 20 years old. Those things really last!

 

[FIREd]

Reusable grocery bags are the norm in much of Europe. I always have some in the trunk of my car.

At home, I have 2 trash bins for everyday waste. One for recycling (light cardboard packaging, PET plastic, metal, paper) and one for general trash (including food waste, but I choose to compost mine).

In addition, many items require a trip to the recycling center to get sorted and disposed of: glass, wood, brown cardboard, polystyrene, textiles, green waste, batteries, old electronics, building materials, paints and solvents, tires, etc... the recycling center is monitored to make sure that people sort their waste properly. I am not sure how many of these items actually get recycled.

Driving to the recycling center is a chore, so I think twice before purchasing something with a lot of packaging. My amazon orders have slowed down to a trickle since I moved to France. Plus, unlike in the US, they don’t leave packages at your door here. If it does not fit in your mailbox, one has to go pick it up at the post office, which often has long lines. So I consume so much less than in the US (brick and mortar stores also have more limited hours).

 

[brucethebroker]

We have a Yardapault and just blast our stuff out three neighbors away.

Seriously, I do remember being a kid when grandpa and all his neighbors would just throw just about anything over the seawall and hope for the best. Paint, wood, Christmas trees, the works.

Growing up in the Midwest, we burned our garbage in a bin located in the back yard.

 

[Amethyst]

Growing up in rural NJ, we were allowed to burn yard waste on the side of the street. Every fall was accompanied by the wonderful smell of leaves burning all over the neighborhood. Yes, it made smoke, but I think it was greener than putting out 9,000 plastic leaf bags to be picked up by a smelly truck.

Growing up in the Midwest, we burned our garbage in a bin located in the back yard.

 

[grasshopper]

Timely, our county just announced that we can only recycle metal cans and corrugated cardboard. So no more paper, plastic, chipboard, glass. I haven't composted except for coffee grounds because of bears, and only had a weekley bag of mostly food scraps about the size of a basketball every week. I also have to haul it to the trash truck 15 miles one way myself. We are allowed to burn, but fire danger and smoke keeps me from burning.

 

[Music Lover]

We leave 6 reusable grocery bags in the trunk of both our cars always. If we didn’t, I’m sure we’d forget to bring them. We’ve used the same bags for years, and they’re still clean...

Plastic bags are also reusable but they've been inaccurately called "one-use" bags by the Environmental Police. They may not last as long a cloth bags but they can last dozens of times. In fact, I still have a plastic bag from a store that closed 10 years ago.

 

[John Galt III]

Every so often, when I am on a trip to the nearby recycling center, I ask them if it's true that all the stuff just goes to a landfill, and they always say no, it does get recycled. They are my destination for lots of decluttered stuff from my house. They take office paper, newspaper, clothes (they call it textiles which includes old shoes), cans, glass, cardboard, and anything that is more than half metal has its own bin to go into. I hope they can keep it all going.

 

[Chuckanut]

The problem is plastic. Most of us grew up in the age of glass drink bottles that were washed and reused. That's the best solution. Problem is it isn't cheap. And lazy customers don't like deposits and return.

Cheapest for the drink companies is plastic, plastic, and more plastic. Then more plastic. Maybe even more plastic. And then after that, plastic.

Plastic doesn't recycle worth squat.

The best way to deal with plastic is to burn it as fuel to produce electricity. Plastic is made from petroleum. Just take it to the last step. The Swiss are doing this. It makes a lot more sense than trying to recycle it

 

[JoeWras]

Every so often, when I am on a trip to the nearby recycling center, I ask them if it's true that all the stuff just goes to a landfill, and they always say no, it does get recycled.

Keep asking. This is in flux. That's the problem, the market is changing and the municipalities are responding to it in various ways. Some are doing better than others.

The best way to deal with plastic is to burn it as fuel to produce electricity. Plastic is made from petroleum. Just take it to the last step. The Swiss are doing this. It makes a lot more sense than trying to recycle it

But that gets some people agitated.

I'm staring at a throw rug that is supposedly made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, i.e. the fibers. I can't imagine the amount of energy required to get it to that degree of reuse. It had to be a lot.

 

[ransil]

Wasnt the change to plastic shopping bags to save the trees ?

 

[MRG]

Wasnt the change to plastic shopping bags to save the trees ?

Trees grow back in a generation. I haven't seen any dinosaurs around here lately.

 

[CardsFan]

Wasnt the change to plastic shopping bags to save the trees ?

That might have been the selling point, but I suspect it had more to do with the cost.

Besides, most (if not all) trees used for paper (at least in the US) are raised as a crop, no different than corn, just a longer growing cycle.