The other day I was at my favorite Starbucks (the one with two PokéStops) and saw this confusing container:
It appears that Starbucks is convincing its green customers that they are recycling by sending empty dirty coffee cups to the landfill.
Here is a better picture I did not take:
Relying on customers to know what is and isn’t recyclable is futile as one mistake renders the recyclable bag useless. The can has the instructions “Some Day, everything will be recyclable. Until then, let’s sort it out together. Thanks.”
This story goes into much more detail into the problem as well as hints at the reality that much of what people recycle still winds up at the landfill.
The charade does employ people however.
You folks may have single stream recycling there in Charlotte. We have it in Ohio. If you think about the sorting capability of the various machines, you realize it isn’t near 100 percent that is recycled. Each sorter has throw offs and these go to the landfill. I would guess maybe 50-60% is recycled.
This doesn’t affect me, however. I recycle glass tin the appropriate plastics and – because I have issues with OCD – all of the items are clean 🙂
North Carolina is less aggressive than Connecticut where I used to live, possibly because we still have land for landfills instead of shipping our waste to Michigan by train. There is no bottle deposit law. All recyclable stuff goes in a green trash can that is picked up every two weeks
Personally, I don’t consider rinsing out bottles, cans, etc to be OCD… it simply makes good sense, unless you want to attract unwelcome guests. The wife and I both rinse off before throwing in the trash or recycle bin.
Tale of two states:
Michigan has a can/bottle deposit law, but no recycling by garbage collectors, most still use the standard old garbage trucks with 2-3 crew (a driver and two handlers). The can/bottle return at grocery stores are highly automated and scan the bar code of each container to verify eligibility for MI deposit credit.
Arizona has no deposit law, but extensive recycling by the waste management companies. Blue bins for cans, bottles, plastic, and corrugated cardboard. Most of the AZ companies require usage of -their- bins, which are handled via remote control by a single driver who never has to get out of the vehicle.
I definitely prefer the Arizona method.