Obviously this is due to ignorance on my part, but I was of the impression that when I put stuff into my "no sort" recycling bin at least most of it was ending up recycled. This bin consists of cardboard (yard after yard after yard of cardboard from amazon), plastic (all manner of wrappers and packaging), cans (I don't bring cans to the dedicated can spot), etc.
I have weekly garbage pickup. Two bins. Two weeks ago I saw the recycling guys put 3-4 bags of my garbage (not in my bin due to overflow) into their recycling truck. Does it matter? Not really. This is green theater.
Did you know that almost nothing you "recycle" is recycled? First of all, most plastic cannot be recycled, second of all most of what can be recycled creates a lower quality product with lower demand.
NPR, Oct 2022 Recycling plastic is practically impossible https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1131...y-impossible-and-the-problem-is-getting-worse
Smithsonian, May 2022 At least 85 percent of US plastic waste went to landfills in 2021 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...t-5-percent-of-its-plastic-in-2021-180980052/
CBC, Sep 2019 We asked 3 companies to recycle Canadian plastic and secretly tracked it. Only 1 company recycled the material https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/marketplace-recycling-trackers-b-c-blue-box-1.5299176
I did find one lazily researched counterpoint, devoid of any real analysis, that claims only 1/3 ends up in a landfill: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/...ained/65-eaae65b8-1b17-4e28-be4e-63ad7362c2d8
The reason I think this matters is not only because landfills are not super-great, but because I believe many people's profligate use of waste sits okay in their head because they think it's being reused, even though almost none of it is being reused in any way at all.
I have weekly garbage pickup. Two bins. Two weeks ago I saw the recycling guys put 3-4 bags of my garbage (not in my bin due to overflow) into their recycling truck. Does it matter? Not really. This is green theater.
Did you know that almost nothing you "recycle" is recycled? First of all, most plastic cannot be recycled, second of all most of what can be recycled creates a lower quality product with lower demand.
NPR, Oct 2022 Recycling plastic is practically impossible https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1131...y-impossible-and-the-problem-is-getting-worse
Smithsonian, May 2022 At least 85 percent of US plastic waste went to landfills in 2021 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...t-5-percent-of-its-plastic-in-2021-180980052/
CBC, Sep 2019 We asked 3 companies to recycle Canadian plastic and secretly tracked it. Only 1 company recycled the material https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/marketplace-recycling-trackers-b-c-blue-box-1.5299176
I did find one lazily researched counterpoint, devoid of any real analysis, that claims only 1/3 ends up in a landfill: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/...ained/65-eaae65b8-1b17-4e28-be4e-63ad7362c2d8
The reason I think this matters is not only because landfills are not super-great, but because I believe many people's profligate use of waste sits okay in their head because they think it's being reused, even though almost none of it is being reused in any way at all.