[coffeebean]

I copied and pasted this article from TV News.com........

Dramatic changes could be coming soon to recycling efforts in The Villages
June 7, 2019

The decision by China and other countries to stop accepting recyclables from America could soon be felt at the end of every driveway in The Villages.

Villages District Manager Richard Baier continues to set the stage for a meeting on this topic set for 9 a.m. June 20 at Laurel Manor Recreation Center. The meeting will be open to all Villagers who wish to attend. Baier has been providing updates to all of the community development district boards in The Villages.

“We need to examine the long-range sustainability of our solid waste management plan,” Baier said.

He called the June 20 meeting, “The first step toward a long-range plan.”

The decision by China and other countries to reject recyclables from the United States has shaken up a system in which most Americans were feeling they were doing something worthy when they put their recycled products at the curb for collection.

However, many municipalities are considering ending their recycling programs and sending those products to landfills.

Baier said there is still a market for cardboard, but products that are less and less desirous are glass, plastic and aluminum.

The June 20 meeting will include a presentation of about 45 minutes by Jacobs, the waste hauler who in 2017 purchased CH2M Hill, the previous hauler. The Jacobs presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

[New Englander]

I always thought aluminum was highly recyclable.

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by New Englander

I always thought aluminum was highly recyclable.

Only if there is a buyer who can recycle...for a cost less than creating new.

Which is a shame, because the ancillary benefits of reducing landfill wastes...is an admirable goal.


Aluminum Recycling 101 (Poke Here)

[JoMar]

wonder why they can't find domestic recycle companies.....we had a couple in PA but what they took was very limited

[dewilson58]

China has been cutting back since 2016. China announced an almost complete import band in January of 2018.


The USA is going to have to manage its own items.


A business opportunity.


From Yale:

The recycling crisis triggered by China’s ban could have an upside, experts say, if it leads to better solutions for managing the world’s waste, such as expanding processing capacities in North America and Europe, and spurring manufacturers to make their products more easily recyclable.

[Challenger]

Recycling has been an enormous and expensive waste of effort for years now. Only because of the recent rejection of our waste by third world countries have we begun to come to our senses. The problem is not "Fake News. " In Hong Kong you pay for plastic bags at the grocery store. Most people bring reusable bags. Because of the rather worthless recycling collection efforts across the country we have lost sight of the real costs of our waste. Time to take a different path.

[Two Bills]

All stores in UK charge for plastic bags.
It has gone back to what it was, before free plastic bags.
Shoppers take their own bags to grocery stores, and they pack them themselves.
Some are introducing 'bring your own reusable containers' for snack foods, salads, coffees etc. for take outs.
We recycle nearly all our waste.
Where it goes now is open to conjecture, paper/cardboard is not a problem, but still to much is landfill bound, since China stopped taking ours a few years ago as well.
However, the USA. is light years behind most of Western Europe in your efforts to rehome/recycle waste.
The USA is second to China in the most polluting nations list.
I am not knocking the USA. I love the place, just stating a fact.

[sbarron01]

In Washington, DC (lived there before TheVillages), you're charged 5-cents for a plastic bag. Funny how that would make such a difference, but if I or anyone I observed at checkout, forgets the recycled bags, we say "$.05!! forget it, I'll carry it!" Just charging a small amt, no matter if you can afford it or not, makes you conscious of the fact that you should not be wasteful. Took awhile but finally Maryland starting charging for plastic bags; not sure if VA finally went that route. But if you do take-out or buy from a liquor store in DC, the plastic bag is free. My husband & I threw everything we thought could be recycled into that specific trash can in DC (which the recycle trash guys picked up every week whether it was or not), and it was a learning experience to now only put paper/cardboard/cans/plastic bottles into the recycle bag. Seems that the recycling people did too good a job and have to help us un-learn that things we think can be recycled, can be thrown out in w/the regular trash.

[Bay Kid]

Same thing happening in Virginia. It is such a pain that I only recycle cardboard and paper.

[2newyorkers]

In Suffolk County in NY you are also charged for using store plastic bags. Also more and more restaurants do not give straws or are using paper straws.

[Challenger]

Recycling efforts (regular pick up) are costing many millions of useless expense. Need to stop now and find another approach. Maybe less waste which should be very easy to implement.

[Midnight Cowgirl]

One of the major crimes here in TV are the plastic bags which we are required to put our trash in twice a week. Multiply that by the number of houses we have. These bags are not disintegrating and contaminate efforts to break down in the landfills.

I don't recall any time in my life, no matter where I've lived, where my trash was put out on the street in bags and not in a trash can.

While over the years there have been many complaints regarding going to trash and recycle type trash cans, it really is the only way to get away from using plastic bags. That hurdle won't happen any time soon because the change over would be too costly for the developer to provide the receptacles and trucks to do the job and I think they are just too cheap to do it.

[JoMar]

Originally Posted by Midnight Cowgirl

One of the major crimes here in TV are the plastic bags which we are required to put our trash in twice a week. Multiply that by the number of houses we have. These bags are not disintegrating and contaminate efforts to break down in the landfills.

I don't recall any time in my life, no matter where I've lived, where my trash was put out on the street in bags and not in a trash can.

While over the years there have been many complaints regarding going to trash and recycle type trash cans, it really is the only way to get away from using plastic bags. That hurdle won't happen any time soon because the change over would be too costly for the developer to provide the receptacles and trucks to do the job and I think they are just too cheap to do it.

You are not required to put your trash out twice a week, you have the option to put it out up to twice a week. We put it out once a week, there are only two of us so we can do that. In addition, we keep a trash can in the garage with a heavy duty bag in the event we over accumulate (party). Everything goes out on the recycle day. Thanks again for the shot at the Developer, it would be disappointing if someone didn't do that when we don't understand the business.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Midnight Cowgirl

I don't recall any time in my life, no matter where I've lived, where my trash was put out on the street in bags and not in a trash can.

Prior to living in The Villages, we always used trash cans to put out the refuse. However, inside those trash cans were plastic bags that contained the trash. I can not imagine throwing egg shells, as an example, into the trash can alone. I have always lined my kitchen garbage can with a plastic bag. I just can not imagine not having a liner.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

Prior to living in The Villages, we always used trash cans to put out the refuse. However, inside those trash cans were plastic bags that contained the trash. I can not imagine throwing egg shells, as an example, into the trash can alone. I have always lined my kitchen garbage can with a plastic bag. I just can not imagine not having a liner.