This post will be of interest to readers who live in Eastern Ontario.
We have a close friend who works in THAT industry for one of the biggest collector in E.Ontario.
That person gave us a real heads up regarding our trash and recycling.
Do you know how much of your recycled products actually do get recycled?
How does HARDLY ANY of it sound to you?
Those milk cartons and tetra packs? They go into a warehouse where they are bundled and sent right to the LANDFILL. There is no market for them because of the energy needed to process them. It will cost the municipalities to get rid of them. That's what happened to plastic bags, so the cartons will likely follow soon.
Cans are also warehoused. There is a market for them down the line, if I remember correctly they go to someplace like Vietnam.
The big market is paper and Number 1 to 5 clear plastic. All those fine water bottles and clamshells especially, are worth big bucks in the industry. We don't recycle much of other plastics in E.Ontario, but it is big industry in some other places. Did you know our fleece garments and acrylic yarns are largely made from that other recycled plastic?
Glass goes in waves. It has to be sorted by color which is pretty labor intensive when the darn stuff is broken.
Our packaging is a big waste of energy any way you look at it. Plastic is a byproduct of the petroleum industry which is pretty dirty at every level. Production of the containers uses energy. Then it uses more energy in handling. And then re-processing.
I'd sure like to get that stuff out of my grocery basket.
I find that our wee township doesn't have the resources Ottawa does. Such a shame.
ReplyDeleteNope, that is more information than I knew!
ReplyDeleteWe even put plastic inside plastic. I guess we at least have done away with plastic grocery bags, but I don't think it accomplished much.
ReplyDeleteAt least the old plastic shopping bags could be used for garbage, kitty litter and the like. These new bags rip easily and can't be recycled even.
DeleteYou know, back in the 'good old days'? My grandmother threw all of her tin cans into a hole behind the outhouse on their farm. She kept the glass and used jars over, but the tin went into a hole. Yeah, I am old enough to remember my gran and mom keeping house before plastic almost existed. Waxed paper, butcher's paper (our meat came from a butcher because we lived in town), string carry bags to support the paper bags groceries came home in. We covered our school books with that paper to keep them nice. My mother had a bread drawer in the kitchen lined with zinc with a tight sliding top.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I loved plastic. Cheap, convenient and easily disposable. Sigh. My poor grandkids. Who keep house with recyclables, mostly.