Future of recycling
 

A vote will be taken on the new recycling, or rather the non recycling program, on June 18 by NSCUDD. It appears that September will be the last of the recycling and the "burn" will begin in October. All garbage and recyclables, including yard waste, will be burned. I understand the economics and I understand that there is a energy component, but I do not understand why, aluminum, which can be recycled over and over with no degradation and which still has some value in the recycling market is not put aside. I also do not understand why the garbage pick ups cannot be only once a week instead of twice a week, reducing carbon footprint. I do not look forward to inhaling the toxins released from the burn of plastic, etc. assuming that the burn will be in this vicinity. I am very sorry to see this happening. We will also be seeing an increase in charges. I, for one, am crushing my aluminum cans and will be reducing the amount of plastics I purchase. I will also be contacting manufacturers of items I buy to ask them to reduce the packaging they use for new products. I will be eliminating the newspaper (or that is what it is called) since that will also not be recycled. Odd because the cost of the newspaper went up significantly the last time I subscribed to it. There are plenty of things that can be done to reduce garbage and hope people concerned with the environment look into them and do what they can to reduce waste. I sincerely believe this burn to be a mistake.

China hasn't wanted to take our recycled stuff for awhile now....I've been wondering how the stockpile of recyclable 'stuff' is going to be addressed...

when I was in the smelting business we'd buy a lot of recycled aluminum to make ingots and include that in the melt mix....we knew which sources of scrap aluminum to use and how many times the aluminum used that that specific product (e.g. air conditioners) had been previously recycled...our metallurgical engineers (which I was not one of) determined that for our purposes, aluminum could only be recycled 7 times before the properties broke down

companies don't really care if you complain about the packaging as long as the masses continue to buy it. other ways to make less impact on the earth.

Lots of stuff is overpackaged with heavy plastics making it incredibly difficult to remove the item from its package.

I don't know enough about the recycling industry to have an informed knowledge of it. Maybe if the company was allowed to operate tax free that could make enough of a margin for them to realize a modest profit. There could be other tax incentives that would help, not required to pay gasoline tax for their collection vehicles, no sales tax on vehicles/equipment used in the business. A business has to make a profit.

An interesting article about the State of Waste-to- Energy that includes Covanta -> The State of Waste-to-Energy in the U.S. | Waste360

While the figures are only preliminary and may be changed at the June 18th NSCUDD meeting, NSCUDD will save $700,000 by eliminating recycling but taking everything to Covanta will cost $2,288,100 more as per the figures presented here found on page 62.

Coversheet

cost
 

it's always about the cost

They do remove metal before burning and sell it, so it will still be recycled at the end facility.

I think the Government should get rid of the junk mail. It is a significant amount of the trash produced and it wastes a lot of energy to produce it and to transport it around the country.

Also, beverages and other products can be packaged in glass, plastic, alumunium, or cardboard. I don't know which is best, but the resulting waste should be a consideration as to which material to use.

We need twice a week pick up because they don't allow us to use trash cans. Even if they did, my garage is not large enough to keep it inside which they wouldn't like either. Twice a week let's us avoid having stinking trash sitting in the hot garages for days at a time. This would attract ants and other critters such as mice.

Please tell me no!!
 

I do not believe that the restaurants or bars in The Villages recycle and IF that is true, how sad and irresponsible. I am against the burning idea. I would not like to breathe all of those fumes. What would the long term effects be if you did?

Totally Agree on 2X a Week Pickup
 

We need more than once a week pickup. All areas, not just TV. But can you imagine renters & vacationers leaving trash out on the curb for a week after they leave?

Plus hate the idea of burning. Air quality is not that great already with all the burning of oak trees & brush.

Be informed
Covanta.com

I will miss the recycling, because I think it's the right thing to do. I have been taking my newspapers to a church that has the dumpster out back, so they make money on the recycling. I have also begun buying cleaning supplies that are concentrated, so less containers coming in my house, and the company ships everything directly to me and no extra packaging. They have bins at Publix and Winn Dixie for plastic and paper bags as well as styrofoam.

You can still bring your newspapers to the church

With over 50 facilities around the world, Covanta is a leader in sustainable waste and energy solutions.
Our Energy-from-Waste facilities convert approximately 21 million tons of waste into enough renewable energy to power more than one million homes and recycle over 600,000 tons of metal annually! We also operate a number of material processing facilities and transfer stations that support Covanta's core Energy-from-Waste business, while helping customers reach their sustainability goals.