Recycling vs Waste: Canada vs UK

[Feruk]

Growing up I was always taught to recycle, but figured most people don't bother. Sure enough, I was right. Stats Canada says 27% of waste was recycled in 2004 (kinda old stat).

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/16-002-x/2007001/article/10174-eng.htm

What I found startling was that in the UK they recycle 43.2% and expect by 2020 to reach 50%. Following this, by 2030, they plan to recycle 70% of municipal waste and 80% of packaging. Sounds like this is a EU requirement.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28128774

That brings me to my question. Do you recycle? Why or why not? I personally would like to see a 3rd option of biological waste added to recycling like they have in Europe. Yes we have more space, but I still think it's a worthy cause. Sure beats using our tax dollars to send jets to Poland...

[finboy]

we have a blue bin so it's easy, the fine non-resident-residents of sunalta pick out anything of value before it gets recycled. I'm still not sold on compost bins, i have some neighbours who already struggle with understanding our current bin system, i can only imagine the fun smells that would come with them trying to compost :barf:

[Feruk]

The idea isn't to compost in your back yard. It'd be a bin that gets picked up like any other where you'd throw away the biodegradables.

[riander5]

Used to recycle before the blue bins, moved downtown where they have an easy program that works the same as the blue bins as well. Not recycling in calgary now is just plain laziness and stupidity

When i travel abroad like the states I feel guilty not having anywhere to recycle my beer bottles or cans haha

[killramos]

From what I understand the green buns are already approved for calgary...

They are just working on implementation at this point. Only a matter of time.

[ExtraSlow]

When I lived in Airdrie, they had a bag limit on garbage. If you have more garbage than that, you had to buy stickers to pay for your extra bags. If you are recycling and composting a family of four makes two bags or less of garbage in a week. Coming to Calgary where you were permitted to put out as much as you wanted, it was very weird. Then they introduced those massive black bins. They should have been half the size and peopel should be charged for putting out more than that. Leave the blue bin large to accomodate a lot of recycling, bring in a half-size green bin, and bam, people will reduce garbage.

[finboy]

Originally posted by Feruk
The idea isn't to compost in your back yard. It'd be a bin that gets picked up like any other where you'd throw away the biodegradables.

yup, and my neighbors still can't get the garbage schedule right, sometimes it sits there in the sun for weeks before they get it out the night before, or just leaving extra bags on the curb hoping the truck operator will get out and heave them in. based on some of the "bad neighbors" threads posted here on beyond, i can see the compost program making for some interesting reading :rofl:

[schocker]

That stat is pretty old so I am guessing it would be higher now with cities introducing blue bins. I generally have more in my blue bin than garbage, usually just one little kitchen bag of garbage a week, not including yard waste though which would eventually be in a green bin anyways :nut:

[nzwasp]

We recycle a lot - our blue bin is always 80 to 100% full each garbage day. Our garbage is usually only a third full. We compost most stuff except meat in our compost bins in our back yard (note if doing this pick up the turning units from rona)

I find it hard to believe that not every major city in canada doesnt have a blue/black bin system but I guess its not that hard when edmonton doesnt have the same system as calgary.

[Kloubek]

Absolutely I recycle. I'd say my recycling bin gets used just over 1/2 the time that my garbage bin does. So I'm likely sitting around 30-40% recycling. And that doesn't consider the bottles I also take in to get my deposit back - which, if added, would probably bring me closer to 40-50%.

It's not that I necessarily believe in recycling. Some studies have claimed that with aluminum cans being the exception, recycling is harder on the environment than anything once you factor in transportation of the material, and the energy to make new products out of it. But I figure - hey, if the program is in place and it keeps it out of the landfill then it makes sense to utilize it.

[n1zm0]

Our blue bin is usually 3/4 to full on pickup day. Before my SO I didn't give a shit about recycling, now it's a force of habit even out in public.


Originally posted by schocker
not including yard waste though which would eventually be in a green bin anyways :nut:

We don't have green bins yet but that would be really beneficial to us as the SO does heavy gardening in the summer and we cut our complex's lawn as well - for now just huck it in the garbage :/ I couldn't imagine the smell of the compost truck though, maybe no better than the garbage truck :rofl:

[ExtraSlow]

Stop bagging your grass clippings. it's better for your lawn.

[benyl]

I even recycled before the blue bins. I would go to the recycling centers (big ass green bins in the crowfoot parking lot) about once a month with paper, cardboard and tin cans.

I used to go to the bottle depot, but now my MIL offers to do it.

[speedog]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
Stop bagging your grass clippings. it's better for your lawn.
There are pros and cons to leaving grass clippings on one's lawn. A better thing to do is to have two active composters and over the course of the season, one will have lots of great compost if the composter's contents are handled/maintained properly.

Back on topic, we recycle anything we can - blue bin is usually fuller than the black bin, wish they'd take styrofoam. Not looking forward to green bins due to the smell that will probably emanate from many of them during the hot summer days plus it's a third bin that will now be cluttering up alleys/streets. Also, our green bin will probably go unused as we have two large, black composters. As far as 3 bins, not a big deal at my place as we've got space at the rear of our yard for 3 bins but for those places that have front-side bin collection, it's be a zoo plus so many people who have street collection seem to store them at the front of their yard resulting in rather unsightly streetscapes.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
When I lived in Airdrie, they had a bag limit on garbage. If you have more garbage than that, you had to buy stickers to pay for your extra bags. If you are recycling and composting a family of four makes two bags or less of garbage in a week. Coming to Calgary where you were permitted to put out as much as you wanted, it was very weird. Then they introduced those massive black bins. They should have been half the size and peopel should be charged for putting out more than that. Leave the blue bin large to accomodate a lot of recycling, bring in a half-size green bin, and bam, people will reduce garbage.

I think once they get the green bin going, no house hold should fill that black bin on a weekly basis.

Then they will start charging for anything outside of bins or it simply not picked up.

I have been recycling for a long time. But separating biodegradable will be a bit of a challenge but not impossible.

[you&me]

Hate to break it to all the blue carters, but over 70% of blue cart material ends up in the landfill anyways...

[carson blocks]

Originally posted by Xtrema


I think once they get the green bin going, no house hold should fill that black bin on a weekly basis.

Then they will start charging for anything outside of bins or it simply not picked up.

I have been recycling for a long time. But separating biodegradable will be a bit of a challenge but not impossible.

I'm in Airdrie, and we have the green organics bins, but not the garbage bins or blue recycle bins. I'd much rather have recycle pickup than organics pickup personally. All I've used my organics bin for is some lawn clippings when I let it get too long to leave on the lawn. To keep the bins from smelling, all kitchen organics are supposed to go in this special little biodegradable bag I don't even know where to buy if I was all that interested in it.

I don't recycle as much as I should anymore since I have to store it somewhere, load it in a vehicle and take it to a recycle depot. When we had blue bins in Calgary, and in a Condo in Airdrie, we recycled a lot more and had significantly less garbage. They need to make it easy and not time consuming and most people will do it.

[clem24]

Originally posted by you&me
Hate to break it to all the blue carters, but over 70% of blue cart material ends up in the landfill anyways...

Can't comment on the accuracy of the stat but this is so true.. So many containers and packaging with recycling logos will have other materials attached to it (i.e. 'mixed packaging') which would just take too much effort to recycle.

Recycling is one of those feel good things that makes us feel good but in reality, doesn't really make much sense, especially on a financial level. ZenOps had a good post about it a while back.

Of the 3 R's, Recycle always come last because the first 2 are so much more effective.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I recycle all my plastic, bottles, cardboard, and paper when possible.

I think the biggest problem is that in public, where huge amounts of garbage are generated, I don't think I have ever seen anyone recycle. Especially downtown in the food courts, or at theme parks, golf courses, etc. people just throw everything including cans, bottles, plastic, paper, cardboard, etc. into the garbage because they are lazy and that is the easiest thing to do. Lots of places are set up with sorting bins that nobody ever uses. As long as it doesn't effect them personally, the vast majority of people simply don't care, and that goes for most things.

The other problem is people don't read, so they throw general garbage in every single bin. For example you will have a trash bin, a bottles bin, an organics bin, and a paper bin, and there will be an equal distribution of garbage in every bin, because people just do not give a single fu*k. Then, at the end of the day, every single bag probably gets thrown in the trash because everything is mixed.

Same deal with blue bins, people don't sort, they just throw everything in there, so it ends up in the garbage anyway.

Like anything else, if you want the majority of people to voluntarily put in effort for something that benefits the greater good rather than just themselves, there needs to either be incentive or some sort of significant monetary punishment for not complying. That would be near impossible to implement in this case IMO.

Start fining people for every recyclable item found in the trash, and everyone would recycle haha - but that would be pretty much impossible to do!

[g-m]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
When I lived in Airdrie, they had a bag limit on garbage. If you have more garbage than that, you had to buy stickers to pay for your extra bags. If you are recycling and composting a family of four makes two bags or less of garbage in a week. Coming to Calgary where you were permitted to put out as much as you wanted, it was very weird. Then they introduced those massive black bins. They should have been half the size and peopel should be charged for putting out more than that. Leave the blue bin large to accomodate a lot of recycling, bring in a half-size green bin, and bam, people will reduce garbage.
Not likely. They gave us the green bins and it gets used for grass and bush clippings. Doesn't get touched in the winter. They also reduced our garbage collection to bi-weekly. Result is a massive mountain of garbage beside the full black bin that they come collect with a second truck. Blue bin is always full but it's too gross and too much of a pain in the ass to separate organics. And it smells and rots. No thanks.

[tirebob]

*please forgive spelling mistakes... my tablet is a bitch to type on!

Actually, organic recycling (green bin) is very effective. People don't realize how much stuff is actually able to be put into their organics bin. You can do yard waste, food soiled cardboard (think pizza boxes, fast food containers, napkins/paper towels etc) bones, egg shells, fats and any food waste, etc. With the new facilities being built, you will start seeing pet waste, litter box waste and even some diaper products even being able to be composted. The list is always growing. The savings to the city are very real as well as currently landfill waste cost $107/tonne to dispose of while organics costs only $55/tonne (I am basing this off of what it cost Airdrie currently), and surprisingly organics make up to and over 50% of the weight of the average persons waste so the savings can be quite substantial if full diversion can be acheived . It also keeps a lot of the garbage juice that happens in land fills from entering our water table.

As for smells etc, it is no different having it sit in green box than it is sitting in your normal garbage. I live in Airdrie and when our neighbourhood was chosen to be part of the pilot project last year I was quite skeptical. I started doing my own research and went to council meetings etc on it and in the end I wanted to be involved in the decision making process and not just listening to what the neighbours said was happening so I applied for a position on the Enviromental Advisory Board to city council here as a resident advisor and was accepted and now get the ins and outs with costs, results etc and I am now an official believer in it and can see the real world results. I hope in Calgary you all get the chance to see it for yourself. They are doing pilot projects this year I believe...

Here is a sample of the stuff that the organics recycling company that Airdrie uses currently accepts. It isn't all but a good idea. Also, as I said, as new composting facilities are being built, even stuff that is not currently being accepted will eventually be added...


fruits and vegetables
meat, fish, shellfish and bones
egg shells and dairy products
bread, pasta, rice, beans and grains
coffee filters, coffee grounds and tea bags
fast food packaging such as hamburger wrappers, french fry boxes, bags etc.
sauces, salad dressings, cooking oils and jams
grass clippings, leaves and plants
branches and prunings
soiled paper plates, napkins and paper towels
soiled pizza boxes
wax coated paper products
disposable paper coffee cups (no plastic lids)
tooth picks, Popsicle sticks, chopsticks
paper microwave popcorn bags (some brands have plastic built into the bag. Be sure the whole bag is paper before putting it in your green cart)
pet hair and human hair
Kleenex - if it does not contain any human waste
dryer lint
butcher paper
parchment paper
paper flour and sugar bags
paper dog food bags

[speedog]

So now what - we've got a quite well respected forum member who actually took the time and effort to educate themselves as well as become involved who can speak to the issue with some authority. A respectful nod to you, tirebob, as we need more like you and also, thanx for opening my eyes.

[carson blocks]

Thanks Tirebob for the detailed and educated reply. I don't love my green bin, but I'll try to use it more. Where do I get the special biodegradable bags to put my kitchen organics in before throwing them in the green bin? Are they costly?

Also, since you're on the committee for these things, is there anything for blue bins in the works? That's something we'd actually use the hell out of, and unless I'm misinformed the city can actually gain revenue from selling some of it's recyclables so I'd think this would be an even bigger cost winner. I'd imagine you'd see a big increase in the amount of material recycled as a lot of people just don't have the time to store it, transport it, and sort it, versus simply throwing it in to a bin like in Calgary.

[mikestypes]

Thanks Tirebob for the informative post. I will certainly put more effort into the green bin thanks to this info.

One question though, why would I throw out Kleenex that didn't have human "waste" on it? :dunno:

[dubhead]

Kinda find that hard to believe since from my experience in the UK last summer they just seemed to throw eveything in the trash and my Engilsh friends said that pretty much no buddy bothers to recylce.

[Supa Dexta]

Growing up in NS we did a lot more recycling than I see in AB. We got green bins 20yrs ago.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
Stop bagging your grass clippings. it's better for your lawn.

I bag it and dump it between rows of veggies in the garden, works great to keep the weeds down! If I fertilize the lawn I just throw the first couple cuttings after in the compost so the fertilizer doesn't get in the food.

We have green bins here and it is a great system, the green and blue bins are double the size of the garbage bins and I fill them both regularly. It alternates pickup between the green and blue bins which seems to work out perfectly and we rarely see anyone with extra bags.

[Modelexis]

If it saves the city so much money they can pay city workers to sort through trash.

The people that sort bottles at bottle depots get paid to sort cans and bottles, why should I have to work for free when my time is more valuable than a poor person with no economic skills.

Recycling these pieces of paper full of ink is a net negative to the environment after you factor in all the bleaches and chemicals needed to remove the ink, not to mention the human labor wasted on renewing a resource that literally grows on trees.

Homeless people don't even waste their time with that, they only recycle pop cans and bottles since they didn't have to pay the initial deposit fee.

[tirebob]

Hey carson blocks - You can pick up the compostable bags ( this is different than simply biodegradable) at almost all the Airdrie grocery stores now and they are pretty cheap. I was told No Frills sells them the cheapest. They are a few bucks for a box of them.

As for blue bins, now that green bins are in place, blue bins are on the agenda for discussion this season coming up. The reason green bins came first is believe it or not, the weight diversion from landfill is actually greater with organics as residents in Airdrie are already doing quite a decent job with this on there own through the private recycling pick up companies here and through the free city bins already around town. We use "Kick it to the curb" at my house and they do a good job.

We have four people in my home, including two teens, and between the green bins and KITTC we have gotten our house down to between 1/2 to 1 small kitchen catcher of garbage a week going to land fill and the rest is getting recycled. It is really not much effort at all either...

As for mikestypes question... I have pondered the same thing myself! Lol