Recycling Recyclables

djpbarry

At what point are we going to drop this ridiculous assumption that recyclables are going straight to landfill? What sort of business model is that, could someone explain?

Note: this thread is a spin-off from another thread on this forum.

Mahatma coat

OK then Where does it go??? What do they do with it, can you verify that its not going into Landfill????

you seem fairly certain, So you should be able to Enlighten the rest of us.

Cookie_Monster

Mahatma coat wrote:

OK then Where does it go??? What do they do with it, can you verify that its not going into Landfill????

you seem fairly certain, So you should be able to Enlighten the rest of us.

gets sorted at their facility and pulped to newspaper/ toilet roll grade is the most likely outcome IMO.
Rather than question djpbarry why don't you provide proof that its not, as most of us accept that recycling is recycled (at least paper anyway).

djpbarry

Mahatma coat wrote: »

OK then Where does it go??? What do they do with it, can you verify that its not going into Landfill????

According to the EPA’s most recent National Waste Report, approximately two thirds of "packaging waste" (paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, etc.) is recovered and the other third or so goes to landfill. If everything that we put into ‘green’ bins is going straight to landfill, then I fail to see how such figures could add up. Furthermore, how can a waste management company possibly generate a profit if they are collecting recyclable materials from households, generally without charge, and then paying to landfill them – again I ask, what kind of business model is that?

Judgement Day

djpbarry wrote: »

According to the EPA’s most recent National Waste Report, approximately two thirds of "packaging waste" (paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, etc.) is recovered and the other third or so goes to landfill. If everything that we put into ‘green’ bins is going straight to landfill, then I fail to see how such figures could add up. Furthermore, how can a waste management company possibly generate a profit if they are collecting recyclable materials from households, generally without charge, and then paying to landfill them – again I ask, what kind of business model is that?

I don't know what waste management company you use but I use Greenstar and they charge €7 per bag for rubbish and €2 per bag for 'recyclables' - plenty of profit there I would have thought?

Cookie_Monster

Panda don't charge for green big (apart from the yearly subscription for both black and green that is)

djpbarry

Judgement Day wrote: »

I don't know what waste management company you use but I use Greenstar and they charge €7 per bag for rubbish and €2 per bag for 'recyclables' - plenty of profit there I would have thought?

If, as you claim, everything is going to landfill, then why is a bag of recyclables EUR 5 cheaper?

Residents in Dublin (as far as I am aware) do not pay for the green bin service. So that's, what, 1.2 million people, having their recyclables collected free of charge, to be put straight into landfill? Where's the profit in that for Greyhound?

Gael

djpbarry wrote: »

If, as you claim, everything is going to landfill, then why is a bag of recyclables EUR 5 cheaper?

Residents in Dublin (as far as I am aware) do not pay for the green bin service. So that's, what, 1.2 million people, having their recyclables collected free of charge, to be put straight into landfill? Where's the profit in that for Greyhound?

Even if they just charge less for recyclables, I don't see how even the most hardened cynic could explain why business people trying to make a profit would do that if it's just going to landfill anyway. Why would they deprive themselves of €5 (to take Judgment Day's example of Greenstar) of revenue per customer just to create some pseudo-green illusion? How does that help their balance sheet in the purest capitalist terms?

Amateurish

Maybe its an oldish thread but until I read it I had been a bit cynical and assumed it all went to China for energy generation.
The following is from the EPA, apparently we are doing better than some assume. . .
A total of 2,952,977 t of municipal waste was generated, a decrease of 8.4% on 2008. This amount is below that generated in 2004;

The recovery rate for managed municipal waste increased by 1.5% to yield an overall recovery rate of 39% (1,101,272 t);
Municipal waste disposed to landfill was 1,723,705 t, a decrease of 11% from 2008;
Ireland‟s municipal waste recycling rate (excluding energy recovery) is 35%, close to the EU27 norm of 40%;

The UK remains the principal initial destination for Irish municipal waste recyclables.
In 2009, Ireland recovered c. 1.1 Mt of its municipal type waste streams (wood, plastics, paper, organics, metals, etc.) (including C&D derived metal, wood, plastic and glass streams), of which 69% was sent abroad for recovery. The majority of this recovery is reported as being recycling (i.e. non-energy use recovery). In 2008 (the most recent industrial source material survey) an approximate 1.2 Mt of industrial waste was reported as being recovered, of which approximately 75% went to non-energy use recycling activities (includes some municipal type streams from industrial activities such as paper, card, etc.).

http://www.epa.ie/downloads/pubs/waste/stats/EPA_NWR_09_web.pdf