How Should Trash And Recyclables Be Stored Food Handlers – Wednesday is garbage day where I live. You can tell by the neatly lined trash cans on the sidewalk; blue for trash and green for recycling. Our office is a slightly different story. Even though many of us have been away from the office for a long time, waste and recycling has a more complex system at the CET office. At home all my recyclables go in the same bin, but at the CET office we have two bins, one for paper and one for bottles and cans. Separating my recyclables at work is not that difficult, we have clear signage and the bins are side by side, but why do we separate recyclables in some places and not others and what are the differences between these two systems?
My recycling system at home, where I throw everything in the same bin, is called “single-stream recycling”, while the separation system at work is called “double-stream recycling”. The typical debate between the two systems revolves around two components: participation and contamination. Unique streamers claim that having one recycling bin for all recyclables increases participation in recycling programs. While acknowledging that single-stream systems have a higher rate of contamination (driving more of the recycling stream to landfill), they believe that the recycling gain from increased participation outweighs the loss. recycling due to the prevailing contamination. Dual streamers argue otherwise. They admit that dual-flow systems do not collect as much turnout, but believe that lower contamination rates compensate for the lower turnout and allow for more recycling to be collected.
How Should Trash And Recyclables Be Stored Food Handlers
So which systems are best and how do different locations determine which system to use? Unfortunately, there isn’t much publicly available data on the subject, but a 2002 study of recycling collection in St. Paul, Minnesota gives us some insight into the validity of competing claims. The study compared the participation and recycling rates of single-stream and dual-stream systems and concluded that while the single-stream system increased participation by 20.8%, the high level of pollution in the stream resulted in 12 .2%.
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Truly recycled material. These results were confirmed in some later studies (including a 2004 report by the American Forest and Paper Association), and to make matters worse for single streamers, the National Waste and Recycling Association reported that about 25% of materials in our recycling bins end up in a landfill due to contamination.
Single-stream recycling programs often result in increased contamination of the recycling stream, making it difficult to work in material recovery facilities where recycling is sorted.
If single-stream recycling means less material is actually recycled, why are so many cities, communities, schools, and office buildings using the system? One of the reasons is undoubtedly the lack of data mentioned above. I only found these studies after browsing the internet for a few hours, and none of them were written for a wide audience. This lack of good information on the subject makes it easy to fall back on the theoretical assumption that more involvement is better than less contamination.
The other reasons why we rely primarily on single-stream recycling are a bit more complex. While single-stream recycling is easily contaminated and often ends up in landfills, it is actually cheaper and more convenient for waste conglomerates to collect single-stream recycling than other dual-stream options. One of the main reasons for the historically low cost of individual energy sources is export recycling. Beginning in the 1990s, China, which is rapidly industrializing, began buying recycling and other waste materials from around the world in order to extract more raw materials for its booming industrial sector.
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At the time, China did not have a strict policy on the waste it bought, and many American waste companies took advantage of this by selling contaminated single-stream recycling bales to a China that did not treat carefully. waste shipments. Much of the recycling shipped across the Pacific during this period ended up in landfills or in the ocean.
From the early 1990s to 2018, bales of recyclables were often shipped to China for processing.
This period also coincided with the growing “popularity” of single-stream recycling programs in the United States. In 2005, approximately 29% of U.S. recycling programs were single-stream recycling programs, and in 2014, that number rose to 80%. I think it’s fair, I’d like to say that our habit of shipping tainted recycling to China was one of the main reasons so much of the United States is now embracing single-stream recycling. But our reliance on China for waste disposal had to end, and it happened in 2018 with the adoption of China’s National Sword Policy.
The policy was intended to reduce pollution in China by banning the import of contaminated waste, leaving little room for US cities and towns to process their contaminated single-stream recycling. This change in policy led to something of a recycling crisis in the United States, as some cities and towns reduced their recycling programs and even threw away excess recycled materials.
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While this new policy has messed up our recycling system and exposed the problems with single-stream recycling, most of us are stuck with the same recycling systems we’ve been using for years. New dual-stream systems would likely be better for the planet, but established recycling collection and processing systems are difficult to change. However, there are many things that can be done to improve our current recycling system.
For example, we could start standardizing recycling and waste labeling at the policy and organizational level. Highly touted by Recycle Across America, this solution has been effective where implemented (increased recycling rate in a football stadium from 20% to 83% while reducing contamination), but it is also important to work on more individual solutions to work . Here are some things you can do to contribute to a good, strong recycling system.
Recycling streams are often contaminated because consumers are not well informed about how and what to recycle. A big theme in the industry is “wishcycling” or “ambitious recycling” when people don’t know if something is recyclable but throw it in the recycling bin anyway. Wishcyclers often have good intentions, but recycling non-recyclable things is actually counterproductive because it leads to more pollution.
Therefore, it is very important that consumers are informed about what can and cannot be recycled to avoid contamination. Fortunately, there are many excellent consumer education resources. What can and cannot be recycled varies greatly from state to state and city to city (you can check with your local waste management organization or municipality to find out more) , but for Massachusetts residents, Recycle Smart MA is a great resource. Recycle Smart has a website full of resources on how to recycle and what to recycle, including a “recyclopedia” where you can look up an item and find out if it belongs in recycling, landfill or compost . Recycle Smart MA also offers a downloadable “Smart Recycling Guide” as well as informative presentations, videos, social media resources and signs to educate the public on good recycling practices.
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A great way to reduce contamination in your recycling stream is to start composting! Food scraps should not be recycled and when properly composted, they become a nutrient rich soil conditioner!
Another great way to reduce contamination in the recycling stream is to start composting at home or through a composting service. Organic materials such as food scraps are not recyclable. They often contaminate the recycling stream and must be sorted in recycling plants. When food scraps are properly composted, they can be turned into a nutrient-rich soil conditioner. CET also has great resources for getting started with home composting on our website and blog. Alternatively, you can check with your local municipality to see if they have a compost collection service. One of the ways everyone can reduce pollution is to reduce their footprint throughout the year by recycling. Experts say we could all become better recyclers by bringing our own bags to the supermarket and replacing plastic water bottles with reusable ones.
TAMPA, Fla. — One way to reduce emissions year-round is to recycle. Experts say we could all become better recyclers by bringing our own bags to the supermarket and replacing plastic water bottles with reusable ones.
ABC Action News spoke with World Centric’s Erin Levine. The company sells everyday products made from 100% recycled materials. Levine said it’s important for consumers to be clear about what is recyclable and what isn’t. She said throwing greasy pizza boxes and plastic bags in those blue bins was like wishing for a bike.
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“When people want to do the right thing and don’t know where to throw an item, they often throw it in the recycling bin.
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