Some Dirt About Trash and Recyclables

"recycling is a waste of tax payer money."

provide data. recycling was reinstated by nyc because it became economically viable. it's not that complicated, but let me help: with skyrocketing cost of resources (wood, glass and metal) as well as higher transport costs (landfills are getting further away from the city but recycle centers are moving in), it's obvious that it will only become better economics over time. the city is appropriately using the existing trash collection infrastructure to supply private recycle businesses. the city carting garbage 100s of miles to a landfill without charging per-bag fees will neither make sense to our collective or individual pocketbooks nor the health of the planet.

BLAH,BLAH, Blah !!! Recycling, They stop doing it because it was costing the city money ! Like paying for an environmentally sound way to reduce waste should be free ! Get a grip .

Speaking of this, did you know it's easy to do compost in NYC? Just save it in a bag in your fridge or freezer, and take it year-round to the Union Square Greenmarket. lesecologycenter d o t org (it won't let me post the direct URL)

My building has no place for recycling anywhere. I asked the super and he didn't know, and said I was the first person ever to ask him (I know supers might say that for all kinds of problems, but in this case I wouldn't doubt it).

Anybody know of community recycling places??

since the recycling bags are supposed to be clear or clear blue, it seems plausible to me that the bags are separated later when they get to the transfer station. somebody has to go through and pick out all the recyclables at some point anyway.

in my experience, the bigger problem is with local businesses and residents not doing their share. i used to teach at a school that didn't recycle white paper! unbelievable waste. in my apartment building, people are always throwing styrofoam in the bins, or ignoring the signs and throwing plastic in with the paper.

after recycling finally came back to nyc, they changed the website and made it a little less clear what plastics were recyclable. i am pretty conscientious about such stuff, but didn't realize until finally digging a bit deeper on nyc.gov to learn that only plastics #1 and #2 are recyclable. that leaves out #5, #7, and plastic bags from the grocery store, which you may acquire quite a lot of.

also, a lot of my friends didn't realize this, so i may as well mention it: did you know orange juice cartons go in with the plastic and metal, not the paper? counter-intuitive.

finally, i learned recently that arlington, va burns 100% of its trash (975 tons every day), providing over 30% (over 60%, maybe?) of the city's energy. they claim to have the pollution under control. i wish we could do that.

It would be nice if the trust fund babies in my building could actually dispose of their trash and recycling properly. Dumping open trash bags on the floor of the trash room is just rude. You made it all the way to the trash room, now use the trash chute!!! And by now everyone should know that take out food cartons are not recyclable.

I once noticed a couple sanitation workers jump out of their truck next to a giant pile of gargage bags and recycleables bags, and chuck all of them into the same truck. I'm not sure if it had "dual bins" or what that would even look like but they were definitely just indiscriminately tossing these bags in willy nilly. So I called the # on the side of the truck to report the violation, and the person on the phone told me that they throw everything in the truck together and then sort it out at the processing station. Seemed weird to me, cause why are we all wasting our time sorting trash from recycling if it all gets thrown together in the truck, only to later get re-sorted again???

Working for the largest waste hauler/recycler in the country I can tell you that NYC does recycle. The majority of the recyclables collected today by subcontracted haulers go to multiple facilities in NJ, as there are very few MRFs (material recovery facilities) within the boundaries of the 5 boroughs. All of these facilities are privately owned, as the contract with Hugo Neu (Schnitzer) does not specify where the processing of recycled material must happen. Assuming that the tip fees for recyclers are more minimal than the landfill costs, it is safe to say that the majority of material picked up at the curbside finds a home at a MRF. Also recycled commodity values are so high today that it wouldn't pay not to "recycle". The Sunset Park MRF is being designed to accept all of the recyclables from the city currently diverted to NJ

where i live in brooklyn, we have three pickups a week. when they take the recycling, there is one truck for paper, one for plastic/glass.

"James Frey," I was using my friend's quote as an illustration that some people - in spite of signs and notices - do not believe that the city actually recycles.

And it's a great idea for people to call 311 to complain, get more info, etc.

Gothamist- when quoting "a friend", it might help you to press them for specifics - like exactly when and where they've witnessed trans and recyclables being thrown into a trash truck.

And then, tell your "friend" to report that activity to 311. If he/she gives them specific time and location, they can track down the Sanitation workers and, if necessary, take disciplinary action.

In NYC, at least on Staten Island and in Brooklyn, there are two garbage pickups a week, one recycling.

They use separate trucks; the "two-bin" trucks are sent solely on recycling duty to separate paper/cardboard and glass/plastic bottles.

The Sanitation Department issues violations to homeowners and businesses that don't separate their trash from recyclables. Those who don't bother to separate should expect a visit from their local DOS supervisor.

recycling is a waste of tax payer money.

talk amongst yourselves.