This is never something I’d have even thought about being privatised, I guess I just assumed it was always in the interest of local authorities to make sure there isn’t just shit piling up everywhere and pay for it through taxation. It’s also surely much more cost effective to centralise.
Today I not only discover that isn’t the case, but that you also commonly have to pay extra to recycle. Like what?! Do poorer people have to just not have their bins collected? Or make a choice about whether things get recycled?!
This has absolutely blown my mind!
If you take it to a refuse & recycling centre yourself (I assume those exist with public access), do you have to pay for that too?!
Do poorer people have to just not have their bins collected? Or make a choice about whether things get recycled?!
Yup. As always, it’s very expensive to be poor, and you wind up having to haul stuff to the dump yourself, taking the time, fuel, etc to do it.
I didn’t pay for recycling with Waste Management, because I knew that 95% of it would go to landfill anyway, so why bother? It’s literally just a way for people to greenwash their disposable lifestyle and WM profits off it.
If you take it to a refuse & recycling centre yourself (I assume those exist with public access), do you have to pay for that too?!
Yes. Even in my town, there’s still an additional fee for taking certain things to the disposal/recycling center. It’s only a couple of dollars, but it’s also mostly for stuff that’s hazmat.
It’s hard to choose to recycle here. Not only is it expensive, but it feels like they change what they can recycle every 2 weeks (exaggerating but still).
Also, sorting and rinsing everything takes a lot of time when you have to work 3 jobs just to afford your apartment. For me personally, though, I don’t work (can’t) but I have so many doctors appointments that I might as well. And my disabilities make it hard to take the extra time to sort.
Sometimes - well, not in my town, but I’ve seen it happen - the same truck picks up both the trash and the recycle. So there’s not really a point to sorting it in those places since it all goes in the same truck. In places where they do put them on different trucks, “recycling” centers have been caught selling the items to other states or even other countries, and most of the time is rerouted to landfills.
A lot of people in my town put their recyclables in plastic bags, which obviously can’t be recycled, so then it ends up at the landfill anyway.
This is never something I’d have even thought about being privatised, I guess I just assumed it was always in the interest of local authorities to make sure there isn’t just shit piling up everywhere and pay for it through taxation. It’s also surely much more cost effective to centralise.
Today I not only discover that isn’t the case, but that you also commonly have to pay extra to recycle. Like what?! Do poorer people have to just not have their bins collected? Or make a choice about whether things get recycled?!
This has absolutely blown my mind!
If you take it to a refuse & recycling centre yourself (I assume those exist with public access), do you have to pay for that too?!
Yup. As always, it’s very expensive to be poor, and you wind up having to haul stuff to the dump yourself, taking the time, fuel, etc to do it.
I didn’t pay for recycling with Waste Management, because I knew that 95% of it would go to landfill anyway, so why bother? It’s literally just a way for people to greenwash their disposable lifestyle and WM profits off it.
Yes. Even in my town, there’s still an additional fee for taking certain things to the disposal/recycling center. It’s only a couple of dollars, but it’s also mostly for stuff that’s hazmat.
I understand not feeling like it’s worth the bother to pay for recycling, but aluminum cans and glass are infinitely recyclable.
It’s a real shame that plastic makes the whole process seem worthless
It’s hard to choose to recycle here. Not only is it expensive, but it feels like they change what they can recycle every 2 weeks (exaggerating but still).
Also, sorting and rinsing everything takes a lot of time when you have to work 3 jobs just to afford your apartment. For me personally, though, I don’t work (can’t) but I have so many doctors appointments that I might as well. And my disabilities make it hard to take the extra time to sort.
Sometimes - well, not in my town, but I’ve seen it happen - the same truck picks up both the trash and the recycle. So there’s not really a point to sorting it in those places since it all goes in the same truck. In places where they do put them on different trucks, “recycling” centers have been caught selling the items to other states or even other countries, and most of the time is rerouted to landfills.
A lot of people in my town put their recyclables in plastic bags, which obviously can’t be recycled, so then it ends up at the landfill anyway.
Idk, there’s a lot more but basically it sucks.