Re: Ditto. Take them to the cleaners.

Post #225,827 by rcareaga 9/21/05 8:17:24 PM Reply	Re: Ditto. Take them to the cleaners. The cleaner, she looks at me with disbelief, and indicates, in heavily Chinese-accented English, that this thing is not done. My Plan B is to bag them up and drop 'em off at one or more local laundromats. I well recall that in my laundromat days (1970-1998) hangers were much coveted. But I'd rather the damned curbside recycler take them. Apparently it varies from one jurisdiction to the next. A few months ago our waste pickup switched from requiring recycling to be segregated into individual bins (glass+plastic+metal; paper) to a one-size-fits-all gigantic wheeled container. This appears to have been intended to cut the freelance scavengers, with whom, as you might imagine, Oakland is abundantly endowed, off at the knees, and it does appear to have discouraged them. Actually, I never minded the freelancers, except that they tended to be a tad sloppy in retrieving bottles from the bins, and frequently left shards of glass on the sidewalk when their alcoholic fingers lost their purchase. cordially, Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
Post #225,832 by Another Scott 9/21/05 8:38:18 PM Reply	Around here the curbside recycling is pretty finicky. The county recycles lots of things, [link\|http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/dpwes/recycling/new-mat.htm\|listed here], but coat hangers aren't among them. HOW TO RECYCLE PLASTICS: Only recycle plastic bottles and jugs. To determine that the container is a bottle or jug, make sure it has a neck. In other words, the top must be narrower than the body or base. Remove and discard lids and caps. Flatten to save space. WHAT NOT: Do not include plastic containers other than bottles or jugs. For example, do not include margarine tubs, yogurt cups or plastic trays. WHERE: Some companies collect curbside. Also, accepted at all recycling drop-off centers except Baron Cameron Park. WHY: Plastic bottles and jugs have different characteristics from other plastic containers. For example, a plastic milk bottle has a different melting point than a plastic margarine tub. It is important that bottles and jugs are collected separately so that these unique properties can be retained. Markets for plastics other than bottles and jugs continue to be weak. In Fairfax County, we only collect what we can sell to recyclers. Mixing in other types of plastics (e.g., yogurt cups, margarine tubs) interferes with our ability to market the materials. A few incorrect plastic containers can result in an entire load of plastic bottles and jugs being rejected. So remember: When in doubt, leave it out! WHAT ABOUT THE NUMBER: Don't worry about the number! In the past, residents were encouraged to identify the resin identification code of a plastic container prior to recycling it. At this point, markets are primarily concerned with the shape of the container. So\ufffdyou DON'T need to check the number\ufffdbut you DO need to make sure the container is a bottle or a jug! It makes some sense, I guess. But an awful lot of plastic gets excluded that way... We use two large plastic bins, but I made the mistake of putting out a couple of Rubbermaid bins of my own once and they took theirs back. I guess the limit is 2 bins... A laundromat is another excellent choice for the hangers. That reminds me - we have a zillion wire hangers in the basement too... Shame about the broken glass and so forth. We have some of that here in suburbialand, but it's usually on the weekends due to kids driving by and chucking bottles and cans out the window. :-/ Cheers, Scott.
Post #225,879 by static 9/21/05 11:29:58 PM Reply	It would be more complicated than that. Saw an interesting investigative piece some months ago about the state of recycling in Australia. Amongst other things, it aimed to answer the question of why only South Australia has a deposit-based recycle system. It turns out that the plastic container making industry does not like recycling. It is simply cheaper and easier to always use virgin plastic. Processing recycled plastic is, the industry has decided, A Hard Task involving numerous levels of cleaning and reconstituting. Paying consumers to return it makes it more expensive. They'd much rather consumers pay to give it back... so we do. There have been cases of individuals who have campaigned for a nation-wide deposit-based recycling system who have been targetted by industry into withdrawing. Anything to keep fat-cat CEOs raking it in. (Contrast the metals industry who do pay bounty; the plastics people usually respond that recycling metal is far easier.) Our local council used to have segregated recycling, too. Now they have co-mingled. It seemed like a backwards step. I suspect that they would lose less money having one collection for all recycling and then later sort it out under more-or-less controlled conditions than doing multiple pick-ups that consumers have pre-sorted. Wade. d-_-b

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