Recycle 2 Save

No one enjoys taking responsibility when things go wrong. We are all eager to determine why a failure doesn't lie solely on our shoulders or why it's not our fault at all. Blame shifting is a common practice and phrase thrown around in our home.  "Well, if she didn't ...then I wouldn't have ... "  "If he wasn't didn't say ... then I wouldn't have said ..."  Although the blame-shifting technique is prohibited in our family, it still finds its way into many unfortunate situations.  Why does it matter? Taking pers onal responsibility helps to ensure the same thing doesn't happen again (and again and again). Situations usually have multiple actors that could all play essential parts in prevention, but what's important is that each player knows their role and how they can personally correct it. You are only able to control yourself, and sometimes, that proves difficult.  This is such a basic and juvenile conversation that it would see...

Hi! And thanks for being the recycler for our residential trash service. I was looking at your blog and found it useful. I wonder if you could address a topic in the blog, and/or send me a personal reply. It is said that about 10% of what we put in our home recycle bin gets recycled. The rest goes overseas, into landfills, etc. Can you comment on this? I realize some of the reason for this is that people contaminate their recycling, rendering the whole load unusable, but what other reasons are there that cause such a small percentage of our recycling to not get recycled? Thanks in advance. Thanks for reading, asking, and for your concern in general. When the 10% number is thrown around it sure is concerning. This number, from what I've read when we researched a bit more in-depth, is based upon 10% of ALL materials produced in the US being recycled. That is still terrible, but not reflective of only 10% of the material placed in your recycling bin. Unfortun...

 If we gave you .10 cents for every water bottle you recycled, would you recycle more?  https://www.news10.com/news/legislation-introduces-revised-bottle-bill-to-include-ten-cent-returns/ I can say with a great deal of confidence that it would not affect the recycling rate in my household. What would it affect? Well, that is a good question.  The stated goal of the bill is to increase recycling rates and promote recycling participation with some monetary motivation. The downfall is that much like most rebate/refund programs there tend to be those who try to exploit them. An episode of Sinfield speaks to bottle redemption road trips.  I have never enjoyed the muttered complaints without a solution but I don't think there is one clear, single solution.  I take that back. There is one clear solution that would make an enormous positive impact on recycling and launch forward the circular economy. The solution is so incredibly easy and I've said it so often that I ev...

No Plastic Grocery Bags... Please. You know how your vacuum cleaner feels about the random shoelace or blouse string you may encounter? That about sums up how our single stream equipment feels about plastic grocery bags. PLEASE recycle your grocery bags! Please DO NOT place them in your standard recycling bin. While out shopping let your used bags ride along and drop them in the retailers bin (typically as you enter the store). Don't know where to find a collection center for bags?? Visit www.abagslife.com

Plastic grocery bags are fully recyclable and can be used in a variety of new products.. BUT (and it's a big but) many material recovery facilities that receive bags mixed in with the residential recycling will end up discarding them as trash. The equipment that processes the recycling has screens that will become clogged by the plastic bags creating a housekeeping issue (which does not allow the sorting equipment to run effectively). In some systems there have been adjustments made (air vacuum systems intended to suck the bags up) in order to assist in keeping these bags from being a potential problem but they aren't fail safe. To get the most out of plastic bag recycling place them in collection units setup to specifically recover them. Like all recycling .. the cleaner and more segregated you keep the material the more potential it has to be successfully recycled. Most grocery stores have displays/bins setup in the entrance. If your location fails to have these bins ...

There is nothing  not a lot that is better (okay if you told me I won the lottery it might be better) than receiving a reader question. It provides proof that people are reading and interested in what we have to say. So, thank you Ben! Let's get right to it. "I have read everywhere.. including your site and facebook page.. that plastic grocery bags are recyclable but my local drop off center will not accept them. My friend suggested that they just slip them in the bag with the rest of the plastic bottles (no one checks) but I'm not sure if we should be doing that. If they are recyclable why is the local collection center adamant that they don't want to take them and where can someone take them if they are in the same boat. I'm in PA, not far from Harrisburg. Thanks in advance for you help. Ben" So Ben, this is where recycling gets tricky. Plastic bags are without a doubt completely recyclable. To add an even more positive fact about plastic ba...

Unlike the month before a majority of the bins are full, some are even overflowing, switching to a single stream recycling program appears to be a success but wait, hold the presses. Single stream recycling has proven to be more enticing to most participants. It seems easier, less to know and less to do; who isn't about easier these days? The unfortunate result is a harder job at the recycling facility because despite higher participation there is also higher amounts of contamination. Our sorters who previously handled paper separation have transitioned into the mixed materials. Yes, garbage always happened occasionally (even when it was strictly paper) but not on the scale that the single stream collection has provided. Not only is sorting the mixed items not the most sought after job but it is also costly for the materials recovery facility who pays per ton for the material to be unloaded only to pay a higher per ton rate to have the waste/contaminants hauled away. As a ...

Working for a company that deals daily with recycling and trying to keep our planet healthy gives true meaning to the comment that for us everyday is Earth Day. Our ultimate goal each day is to optimize recycling and reduce waste, which ends up in a landfill or worse dumped or littered. We get so excited for Earth Day because that seems to provide a spotlight on an issue that we feel should be a priority every day. Many times a common misconception for individuals and businesses alike is that Recycling and environmentally prefered options cost more money. We have taken pride in disproving this myth, many times recycling can save you money or can even become a source of profit (if the quantities are sufficient and handling methods are efficient). We can tell you how and provide free evaluations anyday, you don't need to wait for Earth Day! For so many Earth Day is a "fun" day that lets them attend a few fun events and maybe get some free stuff but what does Eart...

Our company processed just over 127,537 tons of material in 2013 and of that material only 2.89% was downgraded to garbage. A 2.89% residual rate is pretty great (especially since we've entered into the single stream processing arena in 2013.. which typically leads to higher residual numbers). R esidual means the material that was downgraded to garbage due to contamination from the original recycling source, during separation and processing, or transport ) We are so proud of our customers who do a great job providing high quality raw material and our staff who excel at what they do. We promise to keep up the good work! 

Kim A emailed me a question:   I have been tasked with getting our office recycling program running. The actual process of recycling collection has started but the staff isn't really jumping on board like I thought they would. I fought for our company to recycle but it's not going as planned. Please help!! Kim, thanks for writing. You are not alone, many times it is tough to get staff to jump on board with anything new let alone a new recycling program. So often people are scared of change and accustomed to doing things the way "they've always done it". I do have a few key suggestions that have provided the needed motivation in the past. 1. Keep it simple. Any extra steps needed to recycle will often be steps not taken. Place recycling bins right next to garbage bins, typically in high traffic areas. 2. Label clearly. When not sure what to do you resort to what you know. If not properly and completely labeled the employees will go back to what they k...