On 1/25/04 10:54 PM, "Dan McConnell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I see your point, that by separating we make the material more marketable, > however my point is, as you say laws mandate recycling and the reason for > that is to keep these materials out of landfills. If we switch to single > sort the process becomes much simpler, this results in an increase in > participation, which will decrease the amount of recyclables that enter the > solid waste stream at the point of origin. You see part of my point. What you missed is that even if switching to single-sort makes the process simpler and increases the volume of recyclables collected, they'll still end up in landfills if the quality is so poor that they cannot be marketed - even with the law mandating recycling. > The following is excerpted from waste managements web site, as you can see > they are claiming as much as a 300% increase in recycled material. > > http://www.wm.com/NewWM/navigation/fs.asp?topic=Services&page=recycling > > Single-stream - Waste Management is focused on making it easier for people > to recycle - whether at home or at work. In 2001, Waste Management became > the first major solid waste company to focus on residential single-stream > recycling, which allows customers to mix recyclable paper, plastic and glass > in one bin. Residential single stream programs have greatly increased the > recycling rates, recovering as much as three times the amount of recyclable > materials. > > Single-stream is made possible through the use of various mechanized screens > and optical sorting technologies used in many of Waste Management's Material > Recovery Facilities (MRFs) or recycling plants. With single-stream well > under way in residential applications, Waste Management is testing and > pioneering the same easy recycling programs for office buildings and other > commercial applications. Nifty. Lest anyone think WM is pushing single-sort out of the goodness of their corporate hearts, here's another perspective on why they're so into it: ---------- South-of-the-river haulers raise alarms about recycling trends Shira Kantor, Star Tribune Published January 7, 2004 With several cities south of the Minnesota River allowing for changes in recycling ordinances to permit pickup of unsorted materials, some independent haulers are crying monopoly. The only hauler providing "single-sort" recycling -- in which residents do not have to separate paper from other recyclables -- is Waste Management Inc. http://www.startribune.com/stories/332/4302721.html ---------- It's all about control. WM doesn't care about whether your pop can goes in the trash or gets recycled - they just want to make sure they're gonna get it either way... Go Eureka! Mark Snyder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
