California’s Bay Area is facing a recycling crisis, as China ramps up requirements for recycled materials.
Recycling the wrong items can get you a fine of $26.60 in West Contra Costa County. In Marin County, Mill Valley Refuse Service will simply refuse to take your recyclable waste until it has been properly sorted. Eventually, residents can be charged with the cost of dumping the waste in a landfill.
“We’re hoping that people will see what they did wrong and clean it out, then pick up the cart the next week,” Mill Valley Refuse co-owner Jim Iavarone said.
But the problem lies not with the waste management companies, or even the centers to which they ship their recyclable materials. In fact, it starts on the other side of the world. “Before now, China was taking everything and now they’re saying, ‘Hey we’re not taking this stuff anymore so the processing plants got stuck with it,” Iavarone said. He elaborated:
[Then] the processors turned to the haulers and said ‘hey we’re not taking this stuff anymore’ so then the haulers got stuck. Now we have to turn to the consumer or resident at the street level and say, ‘OK we can’t take this stuff anymore either,’ so you have to do more sorting at home. It starts at home.
“Many people put questionable things in the cart hoping that somebody will deal with it down the line,” Iavarone continued. “In the past, it went unnoticed because China was buying it. So we became very lax. No longer. Now we have to deal with it.”
“Recycling” → operant conditioning
Simple solution: Just put everything in garbage bags in the trash
I usually fill two large metal bins full of aluminum ships about every two weeks. Historically the Chinese were taking all of the scrap metal. Now they’re not buying shit. Slowly American smelters are starting to buy this high quality aluminum. I expect that to accelerate. If the Chicoms had demand, believe me they’d be buying it. Stay the course Mr. President. Grind them into the ground if necessary.
PS, Fxck California.
Human feces on public streets, dirty needles in public parks. No biggie.
God forbid an empty jar of mayo is placed in the paper bin….
Hate to break it to the moonbats, but China refusing their refuse is the least of their concerns.
Fortunately, recycling here in Sarasota County is easy: glass, metal, and plastic all go in the same bin, paper and cardboard in the other bin. Everything else goes in the household trash can, and nobody looks closely anyway.
Pro Tip:
For stuff that stinks, Target stores have trash cans out front.
good take on China Brad. We need our Orange president to kick their ass from here to Chi…wait. Here to S. Korea.
Fucking spell check, Chips, not ships.
There are many people that will end up dumping who knows what on the road when they snap from all the requirements to get rid of the trash when it become overwhelming.
On the brighter side there are parts of California that you might not notice.
Uhm, that’s called your garbage bill. I pay $61.07 every 3 months, that’s the subsidized rate from the county I pay $5900 in taxes to this year.
Nonetheless, I require more subsidization because when it comes to electronics, the damn trash man won’t pick up any of my trash if he spies so much as a AA battery that fell out of a Glad bag.
Yesterday I left my old microwave in a new microwave box in a shopping cart at Costco. Someone will think they scored, bring it home, so I don’t have to deal with it… Other than the cord cut and in my copper bin.
“Before now, China was taking everything and now they’re saying, ‘Hey we’re not taking this stuff anymore so the processing plants got stuck with it,” Iavarone said
Ah, they mean “Before Trump, China was taking everything. . .” Got it.
Their recycle plan bshit.
ECP
Yesterday I left my old microwave in a new microwave box in a shopping cart at Costco. Someone will think they scored, bring it home, so I don’t have to deal with it… Other than the cord cut and in my copper bin.
A buddy of mine tried that. Old MW in the new box and left it in the back of his truck at homedepot. Didn’t work. Funny though, a couple months later his tailgate was stolen from that same parking lot.
Bad_Brad,
Jealous of me yet? 😉
For Mexicans in El Paso, recycling is easy. Just drive out of town and dump it in the desert. Filthy people.
Tsunami
Turns out the wife wasn’t lying about always being cold. She was just diagnosed with Raynaud’s disease. I’m still researching it. Wyoming is currently not looking good.
My city gave out these huge yellow recycling bins on wheels. That day, I rolled it down the street about 6-7 houses and left it there. Haven’t seen it since. I don’t dig through trash for free. Friggin city also charges me every year on my property taxes for sewage. I have a damn septic tank and am not hooked up to city water. They also won’t pave my road. Fuck ‘em!!
I haven’t been to the transfer station in 7 years.
Compost everything sloppy.
Bust up and bury everything glass.
Send everything steel to the junkyard.
All paper and plastic is mixed together and dried down to a level where it always seems to catch on fire.
Bad_Brad, I have Raynaud’s disease, syndrome… condition… whatever. I live in Wyoming. You are an amazing husband to consider your wife. It has been hell for me for 33 years. I am 59.
If you are wealthy, she might be ok. (two homes) But I’m not wealthy. There is no life in the winter for people with Raynaud’s in NW Wyoming.
If it is to be Wyoming though, Sheridan has the shortest winters. It is 3000 feet lower than where I live and my trips there have always helped, while I was there, with my health issues.
If your wife smokes (I never have) she MUST quit.
Wyoming would LOVE TO HAVE BOTH OF YOU.