"Those who complete the two 90-minute sessions and a community outreach project will be certified Master Recyclers, equipped not only to tell the difference between No. 1 and No. 5 plastic containers but to help friends, neighbors and coworkers improve their own habits."
From The Wisconsin State Journal.
That made me laugh.
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99 comments:
It well should make anyone laugh. What nonsense.
3 hours of training to figure out how to correctly throw away a piece of plastic.
The Master Recyclers will rat out non-compliant neighbors.
Is there a reward for reporting your neighbors?
"...help friends, neighbors and coworkers improve their own habits." "Help?" You mean bully and cajole? That'll work out well for all concerned.
Stay in for two weeks to flatten the curve.
Recycling classes.
What bullshit will the sheeple accept next?
How Soviet.
You need a "Badges?WeDon'tNeedNoStinkin'Badges" tag line.
Thirty years ago, college dorms were already having recycling commissars hounding students about recycling streams in efforts to win the prize for the most environmentally conscious dorm.
It was a harbinger of cancel culture.
That sounds like an advanced class for the Karens of the world.
Penn and Teller, "Bullshit," a great episode on recycling. They run an experiment to see if they can fool people into believing there is a new colour of box, grey or something, and now some of their shit has to be moved from box to box. Many people go along with this.
In our perfectly green future, thoughts will be recycled and offered up as totalitarian mantra-cites.
In my area we separate plastics, paper and cardboard into separate bins. Those bins, along with bagged garbage, are sent to a local power plant where they are burned to generate electricity.
I asked about why we bother to separate them if they are just going to be burned anyway. The recycling employee said "it makes some people feel better". So in our area recycling is not to save the planet. It is a way to signal virtue.
It's not a question of what can be recycled, but rather what your local recycling company will accept - it differs from location to location. People assume that if there is some type of 'recycle' symbol on a plastic item, it will be accepted by the local recycler, but that's not the case most of the time. The expectation is too high, in general, for the public to distinguish the grades of trash that they have from the point of view of the recycler (especially for items where the marking is way too tiny to distinguish the plastic-type code number).
Must have been around 2007 or so I was in a big cafeteria at a San Francisco based company. End of meal, you bring your tray to the garbage, and there are at least 5 different cans. That was when I met my first master recycler, a cafeteria worker whose sole job was to tell you where to toss your trash. Made me laugh then too. Also they didn't sell cookies or sweets or anything good for desert, I recall, which irritated a couple of my colleagues.
I thought this was Babylon Bee at first.
America's newspaper of record.
What happens to the recycled materials?
In many places it just goes to landfill after sorting.
John Henry
Is this open to non residents? "master recycle" might look cool on my resume
John Henry
Will they have uniforms?
Aluminum seems worthwhile to recycle due to the energy required to initially obtain it. Other stuff not so much. If recycling was valuable - the city wouldn’t be charging me to pick it up. Occasionally, when the recycle bin is full we have they another “recycle” bag. It magically becomes trash at that point.
How do you tell treasure from trash? Somebody will pay you for treasure.
If you can't afford the $15 class, you can get a scholarship (so says the article). Funding is from the Carton Council. Whew! Glad it wasn't in the Covid bill. Or maybe it was. Need to read it to find out what's in it.
"The future is fun! ... The future is fair! ... You may already have won! ... You may already be there!"
Mommy, can I take that class? I wanna be a Master Recycler.
Quiet Junior. You know Daddy wants you to go fishing with him.
But he just makes me put worms on the hooks. I don't wanna be a Master Baiter.
Hush. Finish your cereal and put the box in the recycling bin.
In my area we separate plastics, paper and cardboard into separate bins. Those bins, along with bagged garbage, are sent to a local power plant where they are burned to generate electricity.
Last year the did a story in Des Moines about their recycling.
In short, there is no market for the recycled stuff, after its been picked up, sorted, and baled....so after is sits until the warehouse is full, is is shipped to the landfill to make room for the new arrivals. rinse and repeat.
“... residents can attend classes to learn the intricacies of the local recycling system”.
The class is titled “Trash: There is nothing the government cannot make complicated”
It is important that you sort you trash for recycling.
It is not important for anyone to do anything with the trash you sorted for recycling.
Our local town scrapped (trashed?) their recycling program years ago. It was too expensive.
I thought all the recycled stuff was sent to China where it was mixed back together and burned or thrown in the ocean. But then the Chinese stopped taking it, so now it is just piling up. That’s OK: it’s mostly derived from good old fossil fuel hydrocarbons, we can burn it as well as the Chinese.
Landfill gas generators use the methane that is produced by the decomposition of organic materials in existing landfills to produce clean, renewable electricity. The process also removes harmful methane from the environment.(Google)
Those cold calls are tough, even for a Master Recycler.
"help friends, neighbors and coworkers improve their own habits"
By telling them recycling is a pointless, costly, wasteful exercise in virtue signaling?
it's IMPORTANT to separate your recyclables, and put them in a separate container.
Then, when they pick up your garbage (and send both cans to EXACTLY the SAME place;
your neighbors will know that you are showing that you care
In my neighborhood, we pay extra for the privilege of recycling. You would think this cost would be offset by the value of the items, e.g. glass bottles, aluminum cans. But these valuable items are looted the night before pick up. This used to upset me but I now recognize it is an effective redistribution of wealth.
Tucson plans to bravely press on with recycling. I wonder if the landfill will be closed to visitors ?
My neighbors used to ignore me, but thanks to the Master Recycler program they now actively avoid me!
Empowering Karens and Kens. If you really want to educate people about recycling [which, I believe, has merit] just put on a 90-minute TV spot. They are obviously trying to create neighborhood cadres of bullies and informants.
USA! USA!
More like China every day!
Tommy Duncan said...sent to a local power plant where they are burned to generate electricity.
Where do you live, Tommy? I didn't know anywhere besides Ames Iowa (and Israel) was smart enough to do this?
The Ames plant separates metals (which are separated into ferrous and non ferrous) and glass out of the garbage before burning. The Glass goes to a landfill, the metals get sold, the rest makes electricity ... The system paid for itself
We pay $15 a month for single stream recycling which goes in the same landfill as the rest of the trash. 🙃
This is just a New Age religion, with rituals just like any other religion.
I suggest they ditch the "Master Recycler label. Laity taught by priests are "deacons".
There are two things that make economic sense to recycle:
- metal cans
- cardboard
The rest is worthless in most places. Plastic and glass are only worth recycling if there is a recycler for them in the immediate area. Otherwise, transportation costs are more than the material is worth.
That Master of Recycling is going to look good on your resume!
Francisco D wins the thread.
First Master Recycler. Then...
Bunch of Rocket Scientists in Wisconsin I guess!!!
IIRC Long Beach has an incinerator used to generate electricity.
So your state is still wasting money running these loser programs. Sad. There is no market for old plastic or aluminum now that China won’t buy our trash any longer so most municipalities simply haul their recyclables to landfills with all the other trash. “Separate for Gaia” was always a scam alas.
After your Master Recycler you can move on to a sewage PHD.
If you can read you can recycle. But as Mike said at 9:06 it’s a scam anyhow.
Nagging. It's not just for family anymore.
Portlandia proved that the best satire of woke hipster elitists is done by woke hipster elitists.
https://youtu.be/hd_uVqEBrSk
You know this whole recycling thing is a scam, right?
Baltimore had people separate "recyclable" materials from their regular trash for more than 12 years when everything just went to the same landfill anyway.
Where I live, they are educating us now on what not to recycle. Our recycled waste was so contaminated that no one would take it.
Their watchword is "when in doubt throw it out"
Will they have uniforms?
Will they wear jackboots?
JK: Yep, Portlandia has it down. Great video.
Dublin (Ireland) has a waste to energy incinerator plant that generates 60MW.
I think David Begley nailed it- they are trying to create Squealers.
Karen training!
Old and slow observes: Dublin (Ireland) has a waste to energy incinerator plant that generates 60MW.
Yes, this is what we need. Safe and functional incineration of trash. Surely technology can develop filters to eliminate harmful emissions. Landfills are an abomination.
More than 50% of these wannabe folks seeking their Master Recycler Certificate will be named Karen or Chad. That's essential if you are going to "instruct" your neighbors.
We've been recycling separating things into three different bins in my Los Angeles suburb for 20 years now. The geniuses on the local city council selected a French designed recycling bin. Up here in the hills most people keep their bins in the back or side yard, Most of those people have to bring the bins to the curb by going through the garage. The standard American door is 30 inches wide; the bins are 32 inches wide. Oopsie! So some bins wind up out in the front yard. Not a good look. Next time (who am I kidding) these geniuses will buy American.
As for separating and recycling? Well the recycling industry has broken down out here and the trash and the recyclables wind up in the land fill together.
You'd think that the folks in the Badger State would look at the experience in Los Angeles--and learn? More likely shudder.
No laughing matter.
We lived in a very nice apartment building in Tokyo.
When we were given the keys we were presented with a binder outlining all of the recycling rules and regulations (alas, in Japanese but with cute diagrams).
We were then shown the recycling room down the hall.
There were bins and baskets of all shapes and colors.
When I took our recyclable items to the room, I would peek in the bins and see what was already there and place the items accordingly.
I'm sure I broke various rules at some point, and as the only gaijin in the building they knew exactly who messed up, but they were too polite to say anything : )
"Francisco D wins the thread."
That is the go-to joke in this situation.
Francisco D typed it out so I wouldn't have to : )
They should move up to “Doctor of Recycling”, that way people could insist on being called “Doctor”.
Presented without comment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcdNaajKExs
there is no market for the recycled stuff, after its been picked up, sorted, and baled....so after is sits until the warehouse is full, is is shipped to the landfill to make room for the new arrivals. rinse and repeat.
Yes, yes,, a thousand times yes. I remember collecting old newspapers when I was (MANY years ago) a Boy Scout. Gone the way of the Dodo (recycling newspapers, the Boy Scouts are not quite there yet). Ditto cardboard glass and plastics. Subsidized virtue signals. But, as with all governmental programs they are harder to kill than cockroaches. POS = Party of Science.
And those, burn it for energy plans?
Sure if you want really expensive energy. It works a treat.
Recycling is garbage and home recyclers are born-again suckers. In the 1960s, manufacturers set about repackaging to eliminate rehandling glass containers while reducing package shipping weights by changing to plastic. The companies behind the [recycling] campaign successfully framed waste as problem for consumers rather than one for the companies that manufactured the items being wasted, . . . and thus framed recycling as something that taxpayers should pay for.
“By pushing for curbside recycling, you’re mobilizing a nation to do a lot of labor for you, bring [trash] back to you at low cost and invest in a lot of infrastructure for you —infrastructure you don’t build and don’t own.” Bartow J. Elmore, environmental historian
The American way should be to have private haulers pick up unsorted trash at the curb and deliver it to an efficient non-polluting private burn facility for disposal. Europe burns heaps of garbage, getting lots of electricity and some heat. The United States does not. Proponents say incineration shrinks the waste and produces heat and electricity while reducing the need for landfills and the diesel-drinking trucks tasked with taking trash to often-distant burial grounds. Better yet, private business hiring increases and governmental inefficiency is eliminated. Home owners will then do as I do - collect trash indiscriminately in a tall kitchen bag container, dump filled bags into the wheeled container outside and roll it to the curb once per week to be picked up by a garbage truck equipped with an automatic lifting system.
How pathetic. Ohh, Ima a Master Recycler!
It feels like everything it getting shoved in my #2 container.
Doesn't Pellitteri do single stream recycling?
Yes.
"Our state-of-the-art facility, Kipp Street Station, is a fully automated Material Recovery Facility which sorts single stream recyclables. After sorting, they get baled and then shipped to manufacturers to be made into new products. Our professional and experienced staff are ready to help create a service plan that fits your business."
List of Recyclables
Landfill gas generators use the methane that is produced by the decomposition of organic materials in existing landfills to produce clean, renewable electricity. The process also removes harmful methane from the environment.
Over a quarter century ago I lived in Montgomery County, MD. They turned their landfill into an industrial park. Apparently their environmental experts didn’t know about methane and other volatile hydrocarbons being produced by decomposition because they permitted a welding shop to be built in the industrial park.
Oops
If they pay you to take it, it's worth recycling.
What's the ethnic breakdown of the Master Recyclers? How can Wisconsin be so insensitive to the sensitivity of African-Americans as to use the value-laden term of "master"????
For all the vitriol that is hurled at San Francisco (and rightly so) our curbside recycling program is quite robust and effective. The company is employee owned and operated and is amazingly efficient.
Three bins per family/house unit and each comes with instructions on the lid for guidance. Black bin for trash (household refuse, broken china, etc.) blue bin for glass, plastic, cardboard; and green bin for kitchen scraps/yard waste. The composted material is available to city residents for free for gardening purposes. And twice a year you can call for a scheduled pick-up for large or unusual items. Hubby did some serious suspension work on our SUV this year and all that worn out stuff including the rusted radiator will go.
Mike Rowe did a ride along with SF sanitation guys in one of his episodes of Dirty Jobs. It was in Chinatown, I think. Really remarkable what those guys do.
My first thought is "Karen Kredentials"
"For all the vitriol that is hurled at San Francisco (and rightly so) our curbside recycling program is quite robust and effective. The company is employee operated and amazingly efficient"
That would be Recology and they were just busted for overcharging SF by $100 million in a graft settlement involving the director of public works, Mohammed. Mohammed also loaned Mayor London %5,500 to get her car fixed, turns out.
Plastic should be burned. It cannot be recycled practically and its really just high molecular weight gasoline.
I rather like recycling, it appeals to my somewhat OCD nature. (Remember Phil Hartman as the anal retentive chef?). Evidently they know their audience in Madison.
In my mind, the whole recycling sham can be summarized by the old Steve Martin joke: "Always carry a litter bag in your car, and when it's full throw it out the window".
Fritz observes: If they pay you to take it, it's worth recycling.
The definitive answer.
Recycling in pueblo? Not. I worked across the street from the Chieftain newspaper that had a cardboard recycling dumpster and plastic dumpster. The same trash truck that picked up trash at my shop also emptied the recycle containers at the newspaper. How can people believe in recycling and yet not believe in Heaven and Hell? Weird how that works.
This can be recycled. That can be recycled. So, they answer what, how, and why. Who, where, when, and how, still, ... don't ask, don't tell. This is reminiscent of the chain of custody in democratic elections.
Retail Lawyer said...Plastic should be burned. It cannot be recycled practically and its really just high molecular weight gasoline.
For municipal use, I agree. I also think work should continue on polyethylene depolymerase, just to have around as a weapon.
If they pay you to take it, it's worth recycling.
It depends on the meaning of "recycling". Some of the materials are exported for handling ("recycled"). I'll have to find a source for the numbers, and ends up in our oceans, and other environments. Profitable. Just like environmental arbitrage for Green solutions.
Would be even funnier if it has said: "...tell the difference between #1 and #2...."
Next year we expand the program to teach and certify technicians to accompany novice fisherman. And properly.... bait ..... the .... never mind. I’ll let myself out.
Sounds like something Inga could be very good at...
Bob Smith: If you look above you will see that someone already beat you to it. ;-)
One thing really irks me is the number of WOKEists who drink bottled water. They naively think the plastic is being recycled, too. I try to buy as few things as possible in plastic. I've never liked plastic, anyway.
Do they offer any classes past "Master"? I'd love to take them, so, like Jill Biden, I could be "Doctor DanTheMan".
"One thing really irks me is the number of WOKEists who drink bottled water."
To be fair, the super woke refill their $100 insulated designer bottles from filtered water coming out of $1,000 faucets.
It would only take once for a neighbor to "help" me properly sort my recycling before I just start leaving bags of my unsorted trash on their porch so they can handle it themselves. I mean, they *are* the experts, after all.
Blogger gilbar said...
"Where do you live, Tommy? I didn't know anywhere besides Ames Iowa (and Israel) was smart enough to do this?"
The French Island Generating Plant is a waste fired electrical power station located on French Island in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
George Grady @2:41: Good idea! ;-)
I learned a terrible truth one day when I stayed late at work.
My employer supplied us all with two wastebaskets, one of which was just for recycling office paper and other for everything else. My terrible discovery was that someone just came around with a large, wheeled cart and dumped everything in there.
Yes, I know, you're shocked, just shocked, to learn that such a thing would happen.
But, really, what most of want to know is (1) what percentage (by weight or volume) of what people put in recycling cans is ever actually recycled, and (2) at what cost?
But, really, what most of want to know is (1) what percentage (by weight or volume) of what people put in recycling cans is ever actually recycled, and (2) at what cost?
Very little, Caligula. When some of my neighbors [the ones with the two separate garbage bins] found out that it all ended up in the same trucks and the same landfill, they were shocked and demanded answers. The answer they were given: 'Everything is sorted out at the landfill'. Good grief! If that's the case, why have two separate bins? People are awfully gullible, methinks.
I used to save my aluminum cans for the Humane Society, who got money for them but the recyclers are no longer getting enough for the aluminum and quit taking them.
Tommy Duncan said...
The French Island Generating Plant is a waste fired electrical power station located on French Island in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
thanx Tommy, go to know. For The Longest Time, Ames was the only place (outside of Israel) that had one. The Hilarious thing is: LOTS of people in Ames have the different colored trash bins (like everyone else) ...
Needless to say, in Ames it all goes into the Resource Recovery Plant, which AUTOMATICALLY sorts out the metals (and turns the rest into electricity
Then have the best intentions, and mean well.
We recycle here in my Maine town. The process is this: you take your stuff to the transfer station. They have dumpsters set up, each with a notice announcing what goes in which, and with examples affixed nearby so there is no confusion. Cardboard (no styrofoam!), colored plastic, clear plastic, construction debris, etc. I you aren't sure there is a friendly worker nearby to guide you. This is not difficult. Three hours of instruction seems rather unnecessary - unless you want to signal to your friends how "green" you are.
I'll recycle when I'm paid for my time, effort and recycled materials at a rate commensurate to the time, effort, and recycled materials involved in the recycling. And not a moment sooner. If it recycling is so unprofitable that only my slave labor and free contribution allows it to proceed, there seems to be no real reason for recycling other than virtue signalling.
Soon AI will allow robotic excavators to mine our landfills and sort the contents into all sorts of useful piles: old battery anodes and cathodes, used TV sets and circuit boards, heavy metals, cellulose from rotten cardboard boxes, screws and paper clips, spoiled cabbage, you name it. Nothing will be wasted. I am not going to worry about it, especially when we consider how very little real estate goes into landfills compared to the vast acreage devoted to solar arrays and wind farms.
All metals get recycled.
Anything else? Meh.
Quick summary: recycling no longer lakes economic or environmental sense so we have to turn recycling into a virtue signaling cult activity. When that doesn’t work we’ll start fining those who don’t obey our recycling rules. This is not going to end well.
We have been ardent recyclers in WI forever, so when I was south for the winter it felt so wrong, just wrong, to put all the trash together. It is amazing just how easy it is to get people to follow rules even when they don't make sense.
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