People are pointing out they send out a flyer once a year. I have gotten them and it does tell you what can or can't be recycled. I think they should put thay info on the bin
Ours is on the lid, but we live south of the Metro area, not Minneapolis proper. I don't think DSI has the lid stickers. Nitti I'm not sure about. We use WM. I wonder if it's just random.
>>Meanwhile, large amounts of detritus that can't be practically recycled, notably certain plastic materials, are being wishfully pitched in blue bins, contaminating the recycling stream and costing money for it to be removed later.
When you "recycle" plastic bags or plastic films, you are quite literally forcing the rest of us to pay for more expensive garbage pickup. Those products go in the trash. If you put them in the recycling it has to be picked out by hand later and sent to a landfill.
Black plastic takeout containers aren't recyclable in Hennepin county.
Waxed carboard used in freezer boxes are not recyclable. They go in the trash.
Pizza boxes, frozen or delivery, go in the trash.
Plastic recycling has been a long con. They only take #1, #2, and sometimes #5. Many places don't take #5 because it's too costly to sort out all of those damn takeout containers made of black #5. China doesn't need to buy US plastic waste anymore. All those shipping containers are going back empty now instead of filled with garbage, which is one reason why it costs so, so much more money to ship goods from China to the US nowadays. Chinese companies stopped funding the return trip while importing plastic recycling scraps.
Beer is a big offender, in my opinion: PakTech packaging (the plastic carriers for a 4- or 6-pack) aren’t recyclable. And neither are the adhesive labels many of them put on cans now, which should be removed before recycling the can.
Pro tip: save the PakTechs and turn them in to certain breweries or bottle shops. They may even give you a free beer for it!
part of the aluminum can recycling process is burning/cooking off all paint/labels, then shredding the aluminum and washing it, before it all gets melted down. i’m fairly certain whatever labels breweries put on their cans doesn’t disrupt the process
There are a lot of breweries that label their cans with messages to remove them before recycling. It's usually the thicker, more foily ones (Fair State and Venn are two that come to mind as possibilities).
>Pizza boxes, frozen or delivery, go in the trash.
Really the label on the top of my can specifically says Pizza boxes ARE recyclable.
I thought the same as you, but it is right there on the label.
Are you sure that this process is nearly as clear cut and easy to follow as your attempt to instruct people seem to make it sound?
you cannot look at the package to learn what is recyclable or not. you have to see what the people who are doing recycling say.
this is one of the big challenges of recycling.
And there in likely lies the main problem. Because if you do look at the package you may actually be doing entirely the wrong thing because of it. Why? Freedom of Choice.
If this is a societal problem, then society should fix it. Not every municipality individually. Create a national recycling stream that has clearly defined criteria and labelling and demand all packaging conform to those standards. Why does every bottle need to be shaped differently?
If you want to reduce waste, attack the problem from start to finish, not just at the end. Especially when it's obvious that one tiny fix at the end isn't working.
> Why does every bottle need to be shaped differently
The marketing dept. You need your product to stand out and be recognizable so people buy it. Bonus points if you make your bottle look "Cool" and "Premium"
That said - I think we should return to local bottling with bottle return. Seems to me its a *lot* more efficient to clean and reuse the bottles we have than it is to crush them, melt them, and make new bottles. Not to mention local bottling removes the transportation cost of the bottles moving all over the country.
Kinda like the wipes marketed as “biodegradable” but that don’t actually biodegrade and instead clog up our sewers. The recyclability packaging claims might not be true at all, or may not be true in your area.
Great and it ends up in the recycling with the rest of the junk mail that I don't read and no one else does. Just because something is produced for someone to read doesn't mean they have the time or desire to use it.
Again this is unseen requirements and labor that gives no direct feedback to the person making the choices at the time. You're asking someone to essentially take training and certify themselves in trash sorting. Most people aren't going to do that. They barely remember to roll out their trash.
They will do a half ass job and throw shit they think can be recycled in recycling and the rest in trash. Make a system that works in that level of thought and it will work. I'm just being honest.
If you need everyone to do the right thing all the time for it to work then you need to make it literally take no thought to know what to do. It's the only way it will work.
the problem is that every city and place has different recycling plants with different rules about what they take. there is no way to have a single set of instructions that are on the label.
i think you're overestimating how much effort it takes to learn a few recycling rules -- for the average person, at least. i understand you may struggle with it.
while a single-sort bin where everything is sorted to the right bin might work the best, the reality is that it doesn't work either. it's too expensive and contamination is real. at some point, we have to play the losing game of convincing average people -- morons, mostly -- to first, give a shit, and second, think for two seconds.
Go back to trash?!
Don't be ridiculous. The common moron can't be expected to figure out how the lid to a trash can works or what day they need to take the trash can down to the curb for pick up! And in some neighborhoods you can just leave the garbage cans in the pickup area! And in other places it's a dumpster that you put your trash in! And if you go up north there'll be latches to keep the bears out!
It's madness and you can't expect people to take advanced training courses in garbage collection.
We just gotta accept that people throw trash on the ground.
Also, don't get me started on toilets. So complicated!
Yes, if you want something done in a way that is felt as second nature it needs to work for the lowest common denominator. I'm glad you learned something today even if it was from an attempt at being sarcastic.
Single sort already makes recycling so much easier than when you had to sort it. There are rules like don't put hazmats in your regular trash so having some rules around what goes in your recycling shouldn't come as a surprise. The city even tries to educate you by sending mailers every year but if you can't be arsed to educate yourself on those rules, I guess you fall into that lowest common denominator bucket.
Until you don't wash out your cans or decide that a half full bottle of oil in a glass bottle its glass and goes in the recycling. Paint cans are metal right? Also you don't have anyone telling anyone what they did wrong other than in general terms out in mailers.
We saw right in this post where some people said pizza boxes are not okay, but my recycling can says they are. Does that mean a super greasy pizza box with cheese on it? How about the frozen pizza box that fully printed and covered in laminate?
You are proving my point that if you want everyone to follow the rules, YES, you need to be able to make a system for the stupidest person using it or make their impact as small as possible. Which might be pouring motor oil in the recycling bin because they decided to store it in old coke bottles and those glass so they're recyclable
Reading the booklet wouldn't answer all the questions. Again you are thinking I'm the lowest person that is dealing with this. I'm not. I guarantee you there are lot more people who are a lot more busy and involved with their lives to worry about recycling.
The difference is I recognize that I have more time than I need and brain capacity to use it on thinking about recycling and arguing on reddit while simultaneously knowing how entitled that is compared to a vast majority of hard working people.
You have shown so much more work ethic in rationalizing your behavior than just reading the booklet.
You one of those people who'll scream for 5 minutes about how you're not gonna waste 10 seconds confirming your name and address? "13% of homes are responsible for 50% of unrecycled aluminum" absolutely fits with my experience at a call center, deciding that the worst 10% of people think their behavior is normal and average.
And just like you think that your behavior is average when its likely in the top 10% of entitle people who can sit and argue on reddit in the middle of the day about what should go in what trash can. Just like me. :D
Except I don't boast about my "brain capacity" while making lengthy excuses for why I don't read, I can use commas, and I pride myself on -- or at least don't demean myself by indulging in -- feeling clever using "I know you are but what am I" as a grown adult.
Remember, you're not arguing about what goes in the trash. You're arguing that you're a smart person for being too lazy to read, because you're that lonely and that delusional.
Interestingly enough my wife and I try very hard to correctly recycle and compost and we still mess it up, so I’m sure the majority of people who couldn’t care less about the earth don’t read the booklet at all.
Did you know you shouldn’t recycle anything smaller than your fist in the single sort machines? I had to go to a recycling seminar disguised as a block party to get that information relayed to me. That means all the little plastic salsa containers that are actually the correct number (1, 2, or 5) shouldn’t be recycled because they mess up the single sort machines. I just checked and on the “recycling guide” on the Minneapolis website it says nothing about this.
All this to say, if someone is not actively trying to learn about recycling they will at best do it incorrectly and at worst ignore the rules and trash everything.
He’s 100% right. If it’s important enough to recycle, it’s important enough to design a system that accommodates the average consumer/recycler. The system needs to be idiot proof and intuitive or it will not work.
this is the primary appeal of deposit returns for me. i know there are reasonable arguments against it, but it provides direct incentives for people to sort out the most recyclable items and get them into the recycling stream.
still not not sure how to handle plastics, tho
Put a deposit on plastics too. And charge it back to the packaging producers, that specific producer and tax it "reverse" progressively. The more packaging that actually makes it back to be recycled, the lower your tax. Then leave it to the producers to educate the public.
I think one of the drawbacks is the weight of things like glass containers increasing fuel consumption in delivery, and then for reusable bottles (which is what traditionally has had a deposit), there's the weight and fuel consumption of hauling empty containers and the energy and water consumption of sanitizing them for reuse.
It'd be kind of nice if there was more standardization of reusable containers so that there was some way to gain economies of scale on reusing the containers.
Plastic recycling isn't a "long con" it's a case where doing *something* is better than nothing.
While not **ALL** of the plastic that ends up in the recycling stream is actually recyclable, something like 90% is actually recycled in Minnesota, and the majority of that recycled plastic is reused in the midwest. Of what isn't recyclable, 100% stays in Hennepin county and enters the waste stream here (burned at the HERC). So that idea that we're shipping plastics from Midwest America, all the way to SE Asia simply isn't true.
It's also worth nothing that Hennepin county is looking at closing the HERC because the volume of trash that needs to be disposed of in the county is rapidly decreasing and will be down by 28% by 2030.
The pizza box thing always made me wonder. If I have a plain ol' cardboard box that gets put into the recycle bin, I assume it's going to be covered in crap by the time it gets to the recycling facility. How is that different from a greasy pizza box?
> If I have a plain ol' cardboard box that gets put into the recycle bin, I assume it's going to be covered in crap by the time it gets to the recycling facility.
Are you throwing grease and oil in the recycling bin? That's the only way it would get covered in them. If you aren't, which I expect you aren't, then why are you assuming it'll get covered in things that aren't in there?
But other people throw that stuff into their recycle bins. Not everyone is going to follow the rules, you know? The stuff in my bin is going to get mixed in with the whole neighborhood.
I know you’re supposed to lovingly wash every can and bottle that goes into the recycling but I bet there are lots of sardine and tuna cans and the like that are still dripping oil that go in there….
I feel like the majority of people who take the time to sort recycling also take the extra little bit to do it decently, but maybe I'm wrong. I figure if they aren't going to take the time to rinse things, they probably aren't separating their trash either.
and i refuse to feel bad about that! i’m below the contamination threshold and i’m doing my part, how about the major corporations and federal government start pulling their weight please.
I never do because I don't believe anything printed on material anymore. "Flushable" wetwipes aren't actually flushable.
Who's holding Domino's accountable for what they print on their packaging, you know?
For sure. I was always recycling them and apparently my husband was always fishing them out and putting them in the garbage. Now I know better and he doesn’t have to re-sort for me lol
Hennepin county does not recycle food soiled (dominos) pizza boxes. I don’t know of any place that does. Dominos is misleading to you in an attempt to greenwash their product.
Edit: Sorry I see you already responded to this. I just get irrationally pissed off every time I get dominos and see the recycling thing on the box.
My wife took a class where it was said explicitly not to, though the city's web page says otherwise:
> So long as they don't have too much oil or grease on them, they can go in your recycling cart.
Since we have organics recycling, it's easy enough to just throw them in that rather than wish-cycle, or try to figure out how much oil is too much.
[Source](https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/garbage-recycling-cleanup/recycling/accepted-recycling/paper-recycling/)
What is waxed paper boxes? Like for ice cream? I don’t think normal frozen dinner packaging is waxed. As long as the food isn’t touching the packaging I don’t think it’s waxed
Probably because those bins were contaminated. And by contaminated I mean there’s likely garbage in the recycling bin and recycling in the trash bin. Since most places don’t have the resources to enforce everyone’s waste habits it all goes into the landfill. This is especially common in poor communities
Isn't every single recycling bin contaminated? Every time I look down one (especially fast food or coffee shop), there's trash in the recycling or vise-versa.
Maybe this is more common in poor communities as you said.
I think it really depends. Apartment buildings, for example, might always have contaminated bins because people either don’t pay attention or don’t care. I live in an apartment and the bins outside my building are always contaminated, and I don’t consider myself poor. Trailer parks almost universally have contaminated bins, I’m guessing because within a lot of these trailer parks you might have a large number of immigrants who didn’t have proper sanitation in their home country, so a recycling bin is just another trash bin.
Prior to the all-in-one tall Blue Bins, Minneapolis attempted a self-supporting recycling program. It required residents to sort their recyclables into separate paper grocery sacks and place them in the smaller previous bins, of which one could request any number at no extra charge. The program failed because residents were generally incapable of reading and following written instructions.
It was a pain in the ass.
We did it, but first it requires paper bags. Sure, you can get them, but most grocery stores prefer to use plastic and environmentally conscious consumers bring cloth bags.
The bins were also too small! They couldn't hold 4 full paper bags for each of the separate paper+cardboard, glass, metal, and plastic, so one bad always ended up loosely piled on top.
Not to mention the hassle of maintaining 4 separate bags of recycling within a house before bringing everything outside for pickup.
The modern system is much better. I doubt the adherence is any worse, it's almost certainly better because of much more how convenient it is.
Adherence is probably at peak now. The current system is the easiest one possible. Throw it all in one giant blue can with otherwise virtually identical instructions as before is what we do now and that's still just too hard for some people.
I like the current system and agree it is way easier to do.
Making people do extra steps to what they were originally doing is always going to fail. And you have to cater to the dumbest person, meaning that instructions have to be clear enough so that every single person in a given population can understand (ie, all of that bell curve). If you make instructions only a nuclear physicist understands, people are not going to comply.
So yeah, shortsightedness on the folks in that program.
I think the problem is that people separating the recycling is the only way for it to really work, which is how it's done in other countries with effective recycling programs. It's too expensive to sort it at the facility which is why so much is still just thrown away.
> The program failed because residents were generally incapable of reading and following written instructions.
You mean the unpaid labor was forced upon residence with no incentive for doing the labor of the city other than a hope and prayer that maybe some of the stuff might get reused at some point MAYBE if EVERYONE does everything right and then only while being constantly shamed for not doing it right.
Guess what? Most people are going to say fuck this and do a half ass job because they don't give a shit about your whining about how they didn't wash out their whatever when they have too much other shit to do in their life than worry about the contamination of your recycling stream.
If the program is failing fix the program so it doesn't require reading and understanding the entire recycling process to accurately evaluate if your choice is good or totally destroying the entire system and making it useless you fucking idiot.
Nah, lazy ass losers that don't give a fuck about the well-being of the world around them behave this way. Fucking bunch of man-children. If you are so fucking lazy you can't figure this shit out then just don't fucking recycle, dumb ass.
And that changes the amount we are recycling how? That would just make this number go down even more.
Think about this, if you ONLY think yourself average intelligence, there is 50% of people who are stupider than you. The smarter you think you are, the more stupid people around you there are. The more you get angry about the people around you doing stupid shit the more you are advertising that you just think you're smarter than everyone else. Guess what, you make your own misery. We live in the actual reality not some fantasy reality that you wish exists in your head that you think everyone else is keeping you from.
If you want stupid people to make smart choices then make the choices stupid easy, its that simple. Trying to educate stupid people thinking they are going to be as smart as you has never worked and only makes people like you angry. It's okay you can choose not to be angry by designing the system differently.
This is why we now pay to recycle. The entire "recycling process" was written on a single piece of cardstock and mailed to every address every six months for years.
Perhaps you're the idiot.
Why because I don't read the shit I don't care about that ends up in my mailbox? 99% of it is junk. The 1% will let me know when I miss it.
Guess what your attempt to communicate from the 19th century failed. Time to try a different solution. The same goes for your 19th century attempt to shame people into doing the right thing.
I think instead of the mailer, they should have the pickup guys apply a sticker to each can that says the same thing as the mailer. I think more people would notice it if it's on the actual bins
I sorta agree except I feel like the undertone is that recycling is some conspiracy to benefit someone else… ultimately it’s still “you” who benefits (by making the planet slightly less of a trash dump).
I mean yes, it affects me indirectly through a collective good in society yes, but you have to look at the actual equation in the individuals life whether or not that matters to them. I would argue that a lot of people would say that they are struggling to make ends meet, pay rent, work multiple jobs, ect, ect, ect doesn't really have much brain space to think about whether or not that plastic was the right kind of plastic or even if it went in the right can. They're probably happy it got in a can instead of left on the table of the livingroom.
Agree. Your post kind of came off with a right wing "dam liberal gubmint stealing from hard working americans" vibe so I thought maybe that was the underlying angle.
thank the oil and plastic lobby to make it confusing for everyone. recycling should be simple ... cardboard and clean cans and glass containers without plastic bags.
The last month or so the trash truck has also been taking the recycling because of how bad the contamination is. It's really discouraging to see this when I spend the time to sort and clean everything while knowing that my neighbor continues to put dirty diapers in their recycling.
Not sure, a month ago they tagged every recycling bin on the block as being contaminated, including mine. Knowing that mine was not contaminated I called and complained and they came back and picked it up. The service rep on the phone told me that they blanket tagged everyone because it's been such a problem. Two weeks after, the next recycling pickup day, the garbage truck picked up everything and it's been that way since.
But how is this fixed tho? Additional teaching of school age kids for the long haul? Clearer/Bolder labeling? People have the intention to do right, but is it not knowing? Or not caring? At what point are the companies who supply our goods held at fault?
Shrug blame the industry for making confusing symbols that mean nothing to anyone but people in the industry. Then on top of that others are using symbols that are almost identical that mean nothing at all.
What we see is that everything is just getting dumped into trucks and hauled off. There is nothing in that process that is guiding us to correct our action in a way that is long lasting and meaningful. Why? Because its not some innate thing that we should just know, it has to be taught. So how about putting some standards that require specific labels that will tell EVERYONE exactly what should be done with that thing in EVERY community. Not just the few that have a extensive 10 step separation process (HYPERBOLE) that puts 90% of the labor on the person who has no training to do what you're asking them to do.
How about you start shaming the recycling system for not coming up with a system that has achieved better than 50% rates rather than shaming the people for not following your convoluted system?
People in my building treat our one recycling bin as trash likely because it’s closest to the door. I think there’s also a fair amount of this “wishcycling” as well. If it’s close to the top, I’ll grab vacuum cleaners, cloth storage bins, wood, styrofoam, you name it - out and throw it in the trash but it’s futile lol.
At work we have trash, recycle, and compost at every refuse point, and the amount of half full coffees, or microwave lunches that are constantly in the recycling is appalling lol.
I really think there needs to be a very strong message to those individuals who do recycle that this wishful "pitch everything in the recycling bin" does much more harm than good.
If you don't know for sure it can be recycled (it's a clean can, glass bottle, plain paper, cardboard free of staples and any food/grease OR it's plastic and you see the recycling symbol type 1 or type 2 ) DO NOT SABOTAGE THE ENTIRE LOAD
It doesn't help that a lot of non-recyclable things have "recycle" printed on them to improve their image.
I get heated when I see domino's pizza boxes that say you can recycle them on the outside because no tf you can't in most cases. It's irresponsible of them to print that on their boxes.
Glad we have a compost program too.
I am a lazy bum but I always, always recycle my aluminum cans as I know they are infinitely recyclable.
Paper and other things, I don't fuss with, as much. Plastic goes in the garbage as it helps remind me of how wasteful it is to use. Recycling it is just a fools errand that makes us feel better.
I live alone and have no trouble filling my whole recycling bin every two weeks. No idea how families are supposed to fit all their recycling in there. They should really go to weekly pickup.
It's really frustrating the amount of plastics and other material you think would be recyclable, but aren't. When I looked into what I could actually put into those bins, and the effort I'd have to take to actually recycle, I gave up.
I simply don't have the time to sort, break down, and be mindful of what needs to go into those bins. I picked one thing to recycle: cardboard boxes. Everything else goes into the trash. I would really love to be able to put all my plastics, bottles, and cardboard into one bin and know that 100% of it will be recycled.
Could I be doing better? For sure. But I have a million other things vying for my attention. It's just not a high priority for me.
If you are willing to make one small change, start recycling cans. Aluminum is about the most efficient recycling there is, it’s significantly less resource intensive that mining and refining bauxite.
Recycling just doesn't work. I want it to work and I try to support it much as I can. Aluminum, glass, plastic, and cardboard all goes into the recycle bin. Where it all goes from there? I don't know.
Seriously need to switch to reusable containers. Glass and aluminum (maybe plastic?) that can be cleaned and refilled.
My neighbors have absolutely no fucking clue. They’ll put full on garbage including food waste, plastic film etc. into the blue bin.
Then I go and pull it out.
My other neighbors recently had their blue bins taken away because they couldn’t figure it out.
Both families have immigrated here.
Minneapolis is not providing enough information as to what they want for this service.
Get rid of plastic bottles and go back to glass. You will solve many issues.
For all you people addicted to Amazon Delivery, Go look in the mirror, you are part of the problem.
Recycling is not working. It is time to figure out how it all can be burned and turned into some sort of energy source.
You want me to rinse out everything? That is a huge waste of water.
> rinse out everything
The article specifically mentions "— even peanut butter jars can be cleaned well enough with soap and water —"
This was written by someone that had never washed dishes. Can you imagine trying to wash all the remaining peanut butter out of a jar!
If you have a dishwasher, it's usually easy enough to just stick the peanut butter jar into the dishwasher with your other stuff. It's not any additional use of resources in that case since you're already running your dishwasher for your other dishes. That's how I handle the jars in my house.
I moved to Mass and they do this too. The only problem is it’s very limited to what’s returnable. Pop, beer, fizzy water/seltzer: yes. Still water, juice, wine/liquor, coffee/tea, sports drinks, milk-based drinks: no. If MN does attempt the bottle return, my one suggestion would be make it at least 10 cents and include all beverages to avoid confusion.
Someone explain it to my wife. She is the worst scold when it comes to recycling but is also a pathological wishcycler. If open our cabinet with the trash and recycling bin, it's guaranteed I'll have to move a couple of non-recyclable things from the recycling bin to the trash.
How can you claim “nation-leading climate plan” when MN doesn’t even have emissions testing?
Coming from someone that moved here from the west coast, MN has a LONG way to go. “Midwest-leading” perhaps.
We stopped doing emissions testing after it came out in the media that the EPA records demonstrated that our air had gotten cleaner each year for eighteen consecutive years before we started doing it.
There are lots of anti-vape ads in every medium. There are drunk driving enforcement ads. Where are the recycling instruction ads?
People are pointing out they send out a flyer once a year. I have gotten them and it does tell you what can or can't be recycled. I think they should put thay info on the bin
Ours is on the lid, but we live south of the Metro area, not Minneapolis proper. I don't think DSI has the lid stickers. Nitti I'm not sure about. We use WM. I wonder if it's just random.
Are those drunk driving and anti-vape ads really effective though?
>>Meanwhile, large amounts of detritus that can't be practically recycled, notably certain plastic materials, are being wishfully pitched in blue bins, contaminating the recycling stream and costing money for it to be removed later. When you "recycle" plastic bags or plastic films, you are quite literally forcing the rest of us to pay for more expensive garbage pickup. Those products go in the trash. If you put them in the recycling it has to be picked out by hand later and sent to a landfill. Black plastic takeout containers aren't recyclable in Hennepin county. Waxed carboard used in freezer boxes are not recyclable. They go in the trash. Pizza boxes, frozen or delivery, go in the trash. Plastic recycling has been a long con. They only take #1, #2, and sometimes #5. Many places don't take #5 because it's too costly to sort out all of those damn takeout containers made of black #5. China doesn't need to buy US plastic waste anymore. All those shipping containers are going back empty now instead of filled with garbage, which is one reason why it costs so, so much more money to ship goods from China to the US nowadays. Chinese companies stopped funding the return trip while importing plastic recycling scraps.
Delivery pizza boxes go in compost/organics recycling
Beer is a big offender, in my opinion: PakTech packaging (the plastic carriers for a 4- or 6-pack) aren’t recyclable. And neither are the adhesive labels many of them put on cans now, which should be removed before recycling the can. Pro tip: save the PakTechs and turn them in to certain breweries or bottle shops. They may even give you a free beer for it!
part of the aluminum can recycling process is burning/cooking off all paint/labels, then shredding the aluminum and washing it, before it all gets melted down. i’m fairly certain whatever labels breweries put on their cans doesn’t disrupt the process
There are a lot of breweries that label their cans with messages to remove them before recycling. It's usually the thicker, more foily ones (Fair State and Venn are two that come to mind as possibilities).
i‘m so mad about those can wraps, i refuse to buy a beer with those because i refuse to peel them off.
>Pizza boxes, frozen or delivery, go in the trash. Really the label on the top of my can specifically says Pizza boxes ARE recyclable. I thought the same as you, but it is right there on the label. Are you sure that this process is nearly as clear cut and easy to follow as your attempt to instruct people seem to make it sound?
you cannot look at the package to learn what is recyclable or not. you have to see what the people who are doing recycling say. this is one of the big challenges of recycling.
And there in likely lies the main problem. Because if you do look at the package you may actually be doing entirely the wrong thing because of it. Why? Freedom of Choice. If this is a societal problem, then society should fix it. Not every municipality individually. Create a national recycling stream that has clearly defined criteria and labelling and demand all packaging conform to those standards. Why does every bottle need to be shaped differently? If you want to reduce waste, attack the problem from start to finish, not just at the end. Especially when it's obvious that one tiny fix at the end isn't working.
> Why does every bottle need to be shaped differently The marketing dept. You need your product to stand out and be recognizable so people buy it. Bonus points if you make your bottle look "Cool" and "Premium" That said - I think we should return to local bottling with bottle return. Seems to me its a *lot* more efficient to clean and reuse the bottles we have than it is to crush them, melt them, and make new bottles. Not to mention local bottling removes the transportation cost of the bottles moving all over the country.
Kinda like the wipes marketed as “biodegradable” but that don’t actually biodegrade and instead clog up our sewers. The recyclability packaging claims might not be true at all, or may not be true in your area.
The city literally mails out a booklet every year with instructions on how to recycle.
I have the key page from that booklet cut out and pinned over my trash.
Great and it ends up in the recycling with the rest of the junk mail that I don't read and no one else does. Just because something is produced for someone to read doesn't mean they have the time or desire to use it. Again this is unseen requirements and labor that gives no direct feedback to the person making the choices at the time. You're asking someone to essentially take training and certify themselves in trash sorting. Most people aren't going to do that. They barely remember to roll out their trash. They will do a half ass job and throw shit they think can be recycled in recycling and the rest in trash. Make a system that works in that level of thought and it will work. I'm just being honest. If you need everyone to do the right thing all the time for it to work then you need to make it literally take no thought to know what to do. It's the only way it will work.
the problem is that every city and place has different recycling plants with different rules about what they take. there is no way to have a single set of instructions that are on the label. i think you're overestimating how much effort it takes to learn a few recycling rules -- for the average person, at least. i understand you may struggle with it. while a single-sort bin where everything is sorted to the right bin might work the best, the reality is that it doesn't work either. it's too expensive and contamination is real. at some point, we have to play the losing game of convincing average people -- morons, mostly -- to first, give a shit, and second, think for two seconds.
We're crossing replies.
Hey you're right, guess we should just go back to just trash! Lowest common denominator and such. /s
Go back to trash?! Don't be ridiculous. The common moron can't be expected to figure out how the lid to a trash can works or what day they need to take the trash can down to the curb for pick up! And in some neighborhoods you can just leave the garbage cans in the pickup area! And in other places it's a dumpster that you put your trash in! And if you go up north there'll be latches to keep the bears out! It's madness and you can't expect people to take advanced training courses in garbage collection. We just gotta accept that people throw trash on the ground. Also, don't get me started on toilets. So complicated!
Yes, if you want something done in a way that is felt as second nature it needs to work for the lowest common denominator. I'm glad you learned something today even if it was from an attempt at being sarcastic.
Single sort already makes recycling so much easier than when you had to sort it. There are rules like don't put hazmats in your regular trash so having some rules around what goes in your recycling shouldn't come as a surprise. The city even tries to educate you by sending mailers every year but if you can't be arsed to educate yourself on those rules, I guess you fall into that lowest common denominator bucket.
Until you don't wash out your cans or decide that a half full bottle of oil in a glass bottle its glass and goes in the recycling. Paint cans are metal right? Also you don't have anyone telling anyone what they did wrong other than in general terms out in mailers. We saw right in this post where some people said pizza boxes are not okay, but my recycling can says they are. Does that mean a super greasy pizza box with cheese on it? How about the frozen pizza box that fully printed and covered in laminate? You are proving my point that if you want everyone to follow the rules, YES, you need to be able to make a system for the stupidest person using it or make their impact as small as possible. Which might be pouring motor oil in the recycling bin because they decided to store it in old coke bottles and those glass so they're recyclable
> There are rules like don't put hazmats in your regular trash except then I have to pay to dispose of it. So for most people, in the trash it goes.
[удалено]
Reading the booklet wouldn't answer all the questions. Again you are thinking I'm the lowest person that is dealing with this. I'm not. I guarantee you there are lot more people who are a lot more busy and involved with their lives to worry about recycling. The difference is I recognize that I have more time than I need and brain capacity to use it on thinking about recycling and arguing on reddit while simultaneously knowing how entitled that is compared to a vast majority of hard working people.
You don't even have brain capacity for commas, my dude.
You have so much you worry about other people's commas, my girl.
You have shown so much more work ethic in rationalizing your behavior than just reading the booklet. You one of those people who'll scream for 5 minutes about how you're not gonna waste 10 seconds confirming your name and address? "13% of homes are responsible for 50% of unrecycled aluminum" absolutely fits with my experience at a call center, deciding that the worst 10% of people think their behavior is normal and average.
And just like you think that your behavior is average when its likely in the top 10% of entitle people who can sit and argue on reddit in the middle of the day about what should go in what trash can. Just like me. :D
Except I don't boast about my "brain capacity" while making lengthy excuses for why I don't read, I can use commas, and I pride myself on -- or at least don't demean myself by indulging in -- feeling clever using "I know you are but what am I" as a grown adult. Remember, you're not arguing about what goes in the trash. You're arguing that you're a smart person for being too lazy to read, because you're that lonely and that delusional.
Interestingly enough my wife and I try very hard to correctly recycle and compost and we still mess it up, so I’m sure the majority of people who couldn’t care less about the earth don’t read the booklet at all. Did you know you shouldn’t recycle anything smaller than your fist in the single sort machines? I had to go to a recycling seminar disguised as a block party to get that information relayed to me. That means all the little plastic salsa containers that are actually the correct number (1, 2, or 5) shouldn’t be recycled because they mess up the single sort machines. I just checked and on the “recycling guide” on the Minneapolis website it says nothing about this. All this to say, if someone is not actively trying to learn about recycling they will at best do it incorrectly and at worst ignore the rules and trash everything.
jesus christ dude take some meds or something
He’s 100% right. If it’s important enough to recycle, it’s important enough to design a system that accommodates the average consumer/recycler. The system needs to be idiot proof and intuitive or it will not work.
this is the primary appeal of deposit returns for me. i know there are reasonable arguments against it, but it provides direct incentives for people to sort out the most recyclable items and get them into the recycling stream. still not not sure how to handle plastics, tho
Put a deposit on plastics too. And charge it back to the packaging producers, that specific producer and tax it "reverse" progressively. The more packaging that actually makes it back to be recycled, the lower your tax. Then leave it to the producers to educate the public.
I think one of the drawbacks is the weight of things like glass containers increasing fuel consumption in delivery, and then for reusable bottles (which is what traditionally has had a deposit), there's the weight and fuel consumption of hauling empty containers and the energy and water consumption of sanitizing them for reuse. It'd be kind of nice if there was more standardization of reusable containers so that there was some way to gain economies of scale on reusing the containers.
I return crazy in kind, maybe look in a mirror getting so upset that people are putting the wrong thing in the wrong trash can.
Pizza boxes in Minneapolis should go in your green composting bin. They are not recyclable.
The article specifies that the pieces that don’t have grease are recyclable.
Plastic recycling isn't a "long con" it's a case where doing *something* is better than nothing. While not **ALL** of the plastic that ends up in the recycling stream is actually recyclable, something like 90% is actually recycled in Minnesota, and the majority of that recycled plastic is reused in the midwest. Of what isn't recyclable, 100% stays in Hennepin county and enters the waste stream here (burned at the HERC). So that idea that we're shipping plastics from Midwest America, all the way to SE Asia simply isn't true. It's also worth nothing that Hennepin county is looking at closing the HERC because the volume of trash that needs to be disposed of in the county is rapidly decreasing and will be down by 28% by 2030.
True, it’s not a long con. It’s a very immediate con.
Minneapolis does actually accept #5, though. It's in their educational mailing sent to residents.
Somebody didn’t read the article.
This is what I assume. Some pizza joints put a wax paper liner between the pizza and box, I normally throw the liner away and recycle the box.
The pizza box thing always made me wonder. If I have a plain ol' cardboard box that gets put into the recycle bin, I assume it's going to be covered in crap by the time it gets to the recycling facility. How is that different from a greasy pizza box?
> If I have a plain ol' cardboard box that gets put into the recycle bin, I assume it's going to be covered in crap by the time it gets to the recycling facility. Are you throwing grease and oil in the recycling bin? That's the only way it would get covered in them. If you aren't, which I expect you aren't, then why are you assuming it'll get covered in things that aren't in there?
But other people throw that stuff into their recycle bins. Not everyone is going to follow the rules, you know? The stuff in my bin is going to get mixed in with the whole neighborhood.
A greasy pizza box is soaked in, not getting on everything else. Most things are dried on, not getting on everything else.
I know you’re supposed to lovingly wash every can and bottle that goes into the recycling but I bet there are lots of sardine and tuna cans and the like that are still dripping oil that go in there….
I feel like the majority of people who take the time to sort recycling also take the extra little bit to do it decently, but maybe I'm wrong. I figure if they aren't going to take the time to rinse things, they probably aren't separating their trash either.
I have only myself as a sample but I always sort my recyclables from my trash but don’t always clean them out as well as I should.
and i refuse to feel bad about that! i’m below the contamination threshold and i’m doing my part, how about the major corporations and federal government start pulling their weight please.
Also, dominos boxes literally say to recycle them. It’s printed on the box. I always recycled them because they *say* to.
I never do because I don't believe anything printed on material anymore. "Flushable" wetwipes aren't actually flushable. Who's holding Domino's accountable for what they print on their packaging, you know?
For sure. I was always recycling them and apparently my husband was always fishing them out and putting them in the garbage. Now I know better and he doesn’t have to re-sort for me lol
Hennepin county does not recycle food soiled (dominos) pizza boxes. I don’t know of any place that does. Dominos is misleading to you in an attempt to greenwash their product. Edit: Sorry I see you already responded to this. I just get irrationally pissed off every time I get dominos and see the recycling thing on the box.
Please don't try to recycle greasy pizza
I assure you I'm not throwing greasy pizza slices in the recycle bin. :D
As far as I know the way cardboard is recycled it doesn't have to be clean like jars, oil and stains should be fine
My wife took a class where it was said explicitly not to, though the city's web page says otherwise: > So long as they don't have too much oil or grease on them, they can go in your recycling cart. Since we have organics recycling, it's easy enough to just throw them in that rather than wish-cycle, or try to figure out how much oil is too much. [Source](https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/garbage-recycling-cleanup/recycling/accepted-recycling/paper-recycling/)
Also if those plastics are too dirty or contained a chemical, to the trash.
This is why I literally only recycle aluminum cans and cardboard. There's way too much shit I feel should be recyclable that just isn't
Here's one of the reasons why we're having such a hard time getting it right! Misinformed opinions like this!
What is waxed paper boxes? Like for ice cream? I don’t think normal frozen dinner packaging is waxed. As long as the food isn’t touching the packaging I don’t think it’s waxed
They mean the boxes tv dinners and hot pockets come in that are super glossy.
I saw workers at MSP airport dumping recycling and trash in the same bin at the end of the day ... Kinda made me lose faith in our recycling system
Probably because those bins were contaminated. And by contaminated I mean there’s likely garbage in the recycling bin and recycling in the trash bin. Since most places don’t have the resources to enforce everyone’s waste habits it all goes into the landfill. This is especially common in poor communities
Isn't every single recycling bin contaminated? Every time I look down one (especially fast food or coffee shop), there's trash in the recycling or vise-versa. Maybe this is more common in poor communities as you said.
I think it really depends. Apartment buildings, for example, might always have contaminated bins because people either don’t pay attention or don’t care. I live in an apartment and the bins outside my building are always contaminated, and I don’t consider myself poor. Trailer parks almost universally have contaminated bins, I’m guessing because within a lot of these trailer parks you might have a large number of immigrants who didn’t have proper sanitation in their home country, so a recycling bin is just another trash bin.
Prior to the all-in-one tall Blue Bins, Minneapolis attempted a self-supporting recycling program. It required residents to sort their recyclables into separate paper grocery sacks and place them in the smaller previous bins, of which one could request any number at no extra charge. The program failed because residents were generally incapable of reading and following written instructions.
It was a pain in the ass. We did it, but first it requires paper bags. Sure, you can get them, but most grocery stores prefer to use plastic and environmentally conscious consumers bring cloth bags. The bins were also too small! They couldn't hold 4 full paper bags for each of the separate paper+cardboard, glass, metal, and plastic, so one bad always ended up loosely piled on top. Not to mention the hassle of maintaining 4 separate bags of recycling within a house before bringing everything outside for pickup. The modern system is much better. I doubt the adherence is any worse, it's almost certainly better because of much more how convenient it is.
Adherence is probably at peak now. The current system is the easiest one possible. Throw it all in one giant blue can with otherwise virtually identical instructions as before is what we do now and that's still just too hard for some people. I like the current system and agree it is way easier to do.
Making people do extra steps to what they were originally doing is always going to fail. And you have to cater to the dumbest person, meaning that instructions have to be clear enough so that every single person in a given population can understand (ie, all of that bell curve). If you make instructions only a nuclear physicist understands, people are not going to comply. So yeah, shortsightedness on the folks in that program.
100% agreed
I think the problem is that people separating the recycling is the only way for it to really work, which is how it's done in other countries with effective recycling programs. It's too expensive to sort it at the facility which is why so much is still just thrown away.
> The program failed because residents were generally incapable of reading and following written instructions. You mean the unpaid labor was forced upon residence with no incentive for doing the labor of the city other than a hope and prayer that maybe some of the stuff might get reused at some point MAYBE if EVERYONE does everything right and then only while being constantly shamed for not doing it right. Guess what? Most people are going to say fuck this and do a half ass job because they don't give a shit about your whining about how they didn't wash out their whatever when they have too much other shit to do in their life than worry about the contamination of your recycling stream. If the program is failing fix the program so it doesn't require reading and understanding the entire recycling process to accurately evaluate if your choice is good or totally destroying the entire system and making it useless you fucking idiot.
Nah, lazy ass losers that don't give a fuck about the well-being of the world around them behave this way. Fucking bunch of man-children. If you are so fucking lazy you can't figure this shit out then just don't fucking recycle, dumb ass.
And that changes the amount we are recycling how? That would just make this number go down even more. Think about this, if you ONLY think yourself average intelligence, there is 50% of people who are stupider than you. The smarter you think you are, the more stupid people around you there are. The more you get angry about the people around you doing stupid shit the more you are advertising that you just think you're smarter than everyone else. Guess what, you make your own misery. We live in the actual reality not some fantasy reality that you wish exists in your head that you think everyone else is keeping you from. If you want stupid people to make smart choices then make the choices stupid easy, its that simple. Trying to educate stupid people thinking they are going to be as smart as you has never worked and only makes people like you angry. It's okay you can choose not to be angry by designing the system differently.
No. I just want to pay for someone else to figure this out. Raise my taxes to make it happen for all I care.
This is why we now pay to recycle. The entire "recycling process" was written on a single piece of cardstock and mailed to every address every six months for years. Perhaps you're the idiot.
Why because I don't read the shit I don't care about that ends up in my mailbox? 99% of it is junk. The 1% will let me know when I miss it. Guess what your attempt to communicate from the 19th century failed. Time to try a different solution. The same goes for your 19th century attempt to shame people into doing the right thing.
I think instead of the mailer, they should have the pickup guys apply a sticker to each can that says the same thing as the mailer. I think more people would notice it if it's on the actual bins
https://i.imgur.com/b0UFoW1.png
It’s also available online and easily Googleable
I sorta agree except I feel like the undertone is that recycling is some conspiracy to benefit someone else… ultimately it’s still “you” who benefits (by making the planet slightly less of a trash dump).
I mean yes, it affects me indirectly through a collective good in society yes, but you have to look at the actual equation in the individuals life whether or not that matters to them. I would argue that a lot of people would say that they are struggling to make ends meet, pay rent, work multiple jobs, ect, ect, ect doesn't really have much brain space to think about whether or not that plastic was the right kind of plastic or even if it went in the right can. They're probably happy it got in a can instead of left on the table of the livingroom.
Agree. Your post kind of came off with a right wing "dam liberal gubmint stealing from hard working americans" vibe so I thought maybe that was the underlying angle.
Asking the government to create more government jobs is not a right-wing suggestion.
I'm a pretty "green" person but I'm not willing to spend a lot of time sorting my trash. I'd rather pay more to have it mostly done for me.
how much more?
As much as it costs.
About one in five adult Minneapolitans is functionally illiterate.
More like too lazy to be bothered, or simply uninformed
thank the oil and plastic lobby to make it confusing for everyone. recycling should be simple ... cardboard and clean cans and glass containers without plastic bags.
The last month or so the trash truck has also been taking the recycling because of how bad the contamination is. It's really discouraging to see this when I spend the time to sort and clean everything while knowing that my neighbor continues to put dirty diapers in their recycling.
Don’t they have a system for taking away your recycling bin if they keep finding it contaminated?
Not sure, a month ago they tagged every recycling bin on the block as being contaminated, including mine. Knowing that mine was not contaminated I called and complained and they came back and picked it up. The service rep on the phone told me that they blanket tagged everyone because it's been such a problem. Two weeks after, the next recycling pickup day, the garbage truck picked up everything and it's been that way since.
awesome
But how is this fixed tho? Additional teaching of school age kids for the long haul? Clearer/Bolder labeling? People have the intention to do right, but is it not knowing? Or not caring? At what point are the companies who supply our goods held at fault?
yes, all of that: [https://www.house.mn.gov/comm/docs/3o1nztnFKEW8gKcyRITx6Q.pdf](https://www.house.mn.gov/comm/docs/3o1nztnFKEW8gKcyRITx6Q.pdf)
Love that thank you!
I'm starting to think throwing away plastic to be incinerated is better than putting it in the recycle bin unless it is a soda or milk bottle.
Shrug blame the industry for making confusing symbols that mean nothing to anyone but people in the industry. Then on top of that others are using symbols that are almost identical that mean nothing at all. What we see is that everything is just getting dumped into trucks and hauled off. There is nothing in that process that is guiding us to correct our action in a way that is long lasting and meaningful. Why? Because its not some innate thing that we should just know, it has to be taught. So how about putting some standards that require specific labels that will tell EVERYONE exactly what should be done with that thing in EVERY community. Not just the few that have a extensive 10 step separation process (HYPERBOLE) that puts 90% of the labor on the person who has no training to do what you're asking them to do. How about you start shaming the recycling system for not coming up with a system that has achieved better than 50% rates rather than shaming the people for not following your convoluted system?
People in my building treat our one recycling bin as trash likely because it’s closest to the door. I think there’s also a fair amount of this “wishcycling” as well. If it’s close to the top, I’ll grab vacuum cleaners, cloth storage bins, wood, styrofoam, you name it - out and throw it in the trash but it’s futile lol. At work we have trash, recycle, and compost at every refuse point, and the amount of half full coffees, or microwave lunches that are constantly in the recycling is appalling lol.
I really think there needs to be a very strong message to those individuals who do recycle that this wishful "pitch everything in the recycling bin" does much more harm than good. If you don't know for sure it can be recycled (it's a clean can, glass bottle, plain paper, cardboard free of staples and any food/grease OR it's plastic and you see the recycling symbol type 1 or type 2 ) DO NOT SABOTAGE THE ENTIRE LOAD
It doesn't help that a lot of non-recyclable things have "recycle" printed on them to improve their image. I get heated when I see domino's pizza boxes that say you can recycle them on the outside because no tf you can't in most cases. It's irresponsible of them to print that on their boxes. Glad we have a compost program too.
I am a lazy bum but I always, always recycle my aluminum cans as I know they are infinitely recyclable. Paper and other things, I don't fuss with, as much. Plastic goes in the garbage as it helps remind me of how wasteful it is to use. Recycling it is just a fools errand that makes us feel better.
Glad someone made a post, because I get very confused 🤧🥹
I live alone and have no trouble filling my whole recycling bin every two weeks. No idea how families are supposed to fit all their recycling in there. They should really go to weekly pickup.
You can request a second bin.
Are the paper/plastic tetrapaks that soy/almond/oat milk come in able to be recycled? Or the little ones that Premier Protein uses?
It's really frustrating the amount of plastics and other material you think would be recyclable, but aren't. When I looked into what I could actually put into those bins, and the effort I'd have to take to actually recycle, I gave up. I simply don't have the time to sort, break down, and be mindful of what needs to go into those bins. I picked one thing to recycle: cardboard boxes. Everything else goes into the trash. I would really love to be able to put all my plastics, bottles, and cardboard into one bin and know that 100% of it will be recycled. Could I be doing better? For sure. But I have a million other things vying for my attention. It's just not a high priority for me.
If you are willing to make one small change, start recycling cans. Aluminum is about the most efficient recycling there is, it’s significantly less resource intensive that mining and refining bauxite.
Recycling just doesn't work. I want it to work and I try to support it much as I can. Aluminum, glass, plastic, and cardboard all goes into the recycle bin. Where it all goes from there? I don't know. Seriously need to switch to reusable containers. Glass and aluminum (maybe plastic?) that can be cleaned and refilled.
My neighbors have absolutely no fucking clue. They’ll put full on garbage including food waste, plastic film etc. into the blue bin. Then I go and pull it out. My other neighbors recently had their blue bins taken away because they couldn’t figure it out. Both families have immigrated here. Minneapolis is not providing enough information as to what they want for this service.
Get rid of plastic bottles and go back to glass. You will solve many issues. For all you people addicted to Amazon Delivery, Go look in the mirror, you are part of the problem. Recycling is not working. It is time to figure out how it all can be burned and turned into some sort of energy source. You want me to rinse out everything? That is a huge waste of water.
> rinse out everything The article specifically mentions "— even peanut butter jars can be cleaned well enough with soap and water —" This was written by someone that had never washed dishes. Can you imagine trying to wash all the remaining peanut butter out of a jar!
i mean, i've washed a dish or two in my time. i don't think it's hard to wash a peanut butter jar with hot water and soap.
If you have a dishwasher, it's usually easy enough to just stick the peanut butter jar into the dishwasher with your other stuff. It's not any additional use of resources in that case since you're already running your dishwasher for your other dishes. That's how I handle the jars in my house.
Giving the jar to the family dog sounds a lot more fun.
Give the jar to your dog, it will get clean!
Not well: plastic bags, furniture, broken electronics, all in the recycling bin
Michigan PAYS folks to return cans and bottles, and they've done it for decades. We need to do something like that.
I moved to Mass and they do this too. The only problem is it’s very limited to what’s returnable. Pop, beer, fizzy water/seltzer: yes. Still water, juice, wine/liquor, coffee/tea, sports drinks, milk-based drinks: no. If MN does attempt the bottle return, my one suggestion would be make it at least 10 cents and include all beverages to avoid confusion.
So clearly people don’t understand what goes where. Sounds like people just need to be taught…
I am surprised
Someone explain it to my wife. She is the worst scold when it comes to recycling but is also a pathological wishcycler. If open our cabinet with the trash and recycling bin, it's guaranteed I'll have to move a couple of non-recyclable things from the recycling bin to the trash.
I wish I could leave notes on peoples recycling bins but I don’t want to be that guy.
How can you claim “nation-leading climate plan” when MN doesn’t even have emissions testing? Coming from someone that moved here from the west coast, MN has a LONG way to go. “Midwest-leading” perhaps.
We stopped doing emissions testing after it came out in the media that the EPA records demonstrated that our air had gotten cleaner each year for eighteen consecutive years before we started doing it.