Oh, thank you thank you thank you. This is the best feel good post I've seen in a long time.

I recycle. So much so that I only toss out one bag of trash every 1.5 weeks. And, I think I can reduce that to one bag every 2 weeks when I start composting.

It's been a longtime worry for me that what I recycle isn't being used, and finding it's way to the landfill. It's good to hear that there is a growing demand for it.

Single stream is a good idea because the less effort people have to do, the more they recycle.

I'm with Brenton this is great! now if only I could get a decent sized recycle bin

...and if only they did something with the number 3,4,5,6,& 7 plastics after the singlestream has sorted out the paper, glass, tin and #1 and #2 plastics(!)

((i actually worked in one of these and you don't want to know the whole truth... sorry....))

EarthChange,

It is true that we are far from having the most efficient recycling centers possible, but things should definitely improve with time, especially as natural resources become more expensive.

It will be easier to improve things if the supply of recyclables is already there than if it isn't, even if right now not everything is recycled.

It's not that simple. This entry really misses the other side of things. I'm a professional in the recycling industry. Here in NYC, we watched Waste Management move in to the local recycling market in the early '90s, and then collapse just as abruptly by the end of the decade - but with the local markets now eradicated. Single-stream recycling results in much lower-quality feedstocks, because materials such as paper are inevitably contaminated by food waste, liquids, etc., when put in with pop bottles and dogfood cans. Just look to programs such as Chicago's "blue bag" system, which has received near-universal criticism since its implementation. Even worse, single sort (though it may make recycling "easier") fails to require even a basic level of responsibility and knowledge from the public - and this further distracts us from the realization that -real, substantial lifestyle changes- will be needed to live in a truly sustainable, ecological way. We can't just superficially throw everything in a box and expect a healthy planet to be the outcome. And the last (limited) bits of ecological benefit from recycling are eliminated when industry giants, such as Waste Management, send most of our recycled paper and steel over the ocean to China, meaning the fossil fuel use for transportation will nearly equal that for manufacturing new products... it's a frustrating thing. There are good things to be said about single-sort, mechanized recycling, but we should be careful to look at the other side.

In single sort the news is generally not useable. If glass is part of the program, no mill will touch the news and most are not excited about the corrugated or plastic. Sorting is still very labor intensive. It is generally support by the tax base and is very costly. Those that are going to recycle will seperate. Making it "easier" increases participation numbers, but not volume.

But we all need to reflect upon where the recyclables are being sent and how they are being handled there--not such a pretty sight--but hey, at least we created an industry for others...

Syrith pretty much sums up most of the added problems.... especially how it makes people complaecnt in not knowing whats goingon and a lack of reposnability (and i can't even guestimate what the precentage is of contaminated waste, stuf fthat falls of fthe bales and gets into puddles of glass powder and muck...

and mike (MGR?) you say "It will be easier to improve things if the supply of recyclables is already there than if it isn't, even if right now not everything is recycled."

they don't stockpile #3-7 they landfill them (after being chauferred to th erecyc plant, sorted, carted around, resorted, conveyored, lit et cetera... then they go to landfill)

...not to mention the y woudl have to drastically redesign the spaces, as rigt now there are not enough chutes to even deal with more than two types of plastic and two types of paper...

the only really cool thing, i admit, is that machine with all the magnets that sucks tin cans off the line.. thats cool!

I am all for bring back deposits. But with the current systems does anyone know if there are usually magnets involved that suck up stuff made from steel or iron? If true then it should be ok to add things like lids and even nails and old bolts and other scrap metal to your bin.

I find it hard to swallow that Waste Management is an industry leader in recycling. I live in Reno, where Waste Management is the only game in town, in an 86 unit residential building, and despite repeated pleas to do so, Waste Management won't pick up our recycling!

Before you can be a leader, you have to play in the game...

ooooh steel! I almost dont want to comment on the dark side of recycling when it comes to recycled steel (you know those eco replacements for the 2x4 beams for home building....)

...all i'm going to say is bring along your geigercounter

Looks like this single-sorting thing is just as good as it is bad, but at least there are people researching and inventing new ways to recycle. I mean, theyre trying to do something, trying to help. Even if it doesnt turn out very good, they still care enough.

Waste Management cares about improving the profit margins of the recycling industry.

As long as "growth" is conceived in terms of the economic bottom line, we won't see any mitigation of real environmental problems - much less moving toward a vision of the future in which we work positively to strengthen natural systems, instead of just worrying about how to do "less damage" or "slow the harm".

Recycling will never present all the answers, because almost inevitably, the usefulness and quality of the materials declines with each iteration of the loop - you can make shoeboxes out of office paper, but it's trickier to make office paper out of office paper. Waste Management is not my model for a future environmentally sustainable, positive society. I doubt that "they" care - though I agree that research and invention can be positive, for recycling and for environmentalism more generally.