Mandatory Recycling

[Embassy]

Where we live we have mandatory recycling. The "garbage police" don't go through your trash to see if you offend, but I'm sure they would do something if there is a blatant problem though.

 

Garbage pick-up is free, but limited to 2 bags per house which I find to be more than sufficient. We also have a bin for compost-type materials (kitchen waste) as well as a couple bins for recyclable items.

 

At first I thought mandatory recycling was too much control by the government, but I think otherwise now. I'm pleased that waste is being reduced in our consumer driven society. After getting into the practice of recycling it really isn't too hard. I just put the items to be recycled in a different place than the trash.

 

I've lived in places where I have not recycled at all because it was quite labor intensive and picky. By that, I mean I would have to put all recycled items into my own container, transport it to the recycling center, and then separate the recycled items into their appropriate categories. Now, I just put everything in one or two bins and they pick it up at the curb and separate it themselves.

 

Anyone else have mandatory recycling?

 

How many bags of trash does your family put out by the curb each week? Do you recycle?

[Renee in NC]

We recycle everything we can - we have 3 bins and they are usually full. I honestly don't know how many bags we put out each week because everything goes in a can, we use grocery store plastic bags instead of trash bags, and we have twice a week pickup.

[Luckymama]

We have a trash wheeled cart and a recycling wheeled cart, provided by the city. Recycling isn't yet mandatory but if you did not request the recycling cart, you are charged extra on your utility bill :D

 

Trash pickup is M or Tu (depending on location). Yard waste pickup is W. Recycling is Th or F. On weeks with holidays, trash and recycling days are adjusted and the yard waste pickup is eliminated.

 

I think we put the equivalent of two kitchen-sized trash bags into the trash bin each week. We have a compost bin for food waste.

 

Yard waste is shredded and composted by the city for mulch. We are able to pick up the free mulch whenever we want.

[Garga]

I recycle paper, cans, glass, and plastic.

 

We take the paper, cans, glass, and plastic to a local grocery store parking lot. They are there each Sat. morning, but we go about once every month or two. We keep the recycled stuff in plastic bags on an old screened in back porch, where we also keep firewood.

 

We fill one trashcan with regular trash each week.

 

There are 4 of us.

[melissel]

I'm not sure if ours is mandatory, but I recycle everything too, down to little receipts and clothing hangtags (usually, anyway). I don't know how many bags of garbage we put out (ours all goes in a big bin too), but I do know that we've gone three weeks without putting the garbage out and been fine. It amazes me when I see some of our neighbors with two of those huge garbage cans to put out. I'm forever wondering what the heck they're putting in there!

[Carrie12345]

Honestly, I can't tell you if our township has *mandatory* recycling (though I guess I could look it up if I weren't so lazy).

 

We don't have any town/township pick up. You have to hire your own. We're in a private development that sets up a contract (and saves us a ton of money by doing so) which includes recycling. We're limited to 5 cans of trash/week and 1 can of (unsorted) recycling every other week, plus cardboard and paper in certain dimensions. That one can isn't always enough for us, but the board doesn't want to add to our contract. There are recycling spots set up for people who don't hire for recycling or have overflow.

[lailasmum]

Our is not mandatory as such but they halved the non recycllable collections and doubled the recycling collections so its expected that you recycle.

 

We usually have about 1 bin bag of non recyclable waste but our recycling changed a couple of weeks ago and they now take a lot more so I think that will reduce more as they now take most packaging.

 

We get non recyclable waste collected every 2 weeks and recycling every week. They will also collect food waste and make electricity out of it.

 

You do get warnings if you put bad things in the recycling like disposable nappies and you can get fined.

 

The quantity of recycling they will take is unlimited and they also pick up garden waste/card so they get what we don't compost.

 

I am very pro recycling so happy to do it but I have a friend who doesn't bother because she thinks its too much hassle to sort her waste.

Edited November 17, 2010 by lailasmum

[Giraffe]

I don't know if it's mandatory, but we have a wheeled trash can and same size recycling can. I fill the recycling every week and maybe half the trash can. It's picked up weekly. I don't mind doing it since it's all picked up the same day (Monday) and I don't have to haul it anywhere. There's no sorting other than recycling and trash. Easy peasy!

[secular_mom]

We don't have mandatory recycling here, but I am making myself get into the habit of recycling EVERYthing- even things that I would normally just toss in the trash instead of rinsing and recycling. I want to be in the habit when it does become mandatory, and I'd rather be less lazy about it anyway. It gets so confusing though, some places we can recycle pizza boxes and some places we can't, we only recently were able to recycle glass here. It's the grocery bags that get to me. I have just GOT to start storing my reusable bags in the front seat of the car- I just need to put them back as soon as I've emptied them so I don't forget them the next time I go to the store. I need to make some more, so that DH will have some in his car too, he frequently stops at the store on the way home from work. We can't recycle the plastic bags in our containers, we have to take them back to the stores that collect them for recycling.

[Marie in Oh]

it was very surprising to me moving here from N. California that we didn't have recycling. The closest recycling center is 30 minutes away and they don't allow personal drop-offs. They are there basically for the sanitation trucks to come. So, we don't recycle. I guess I could bring my recyclables to my mom's as she lives in the village but that seems dishonest somehow. We do have a composter so that cuts down on food waste. I hate throwing out milk jugs and such, but it is what it is.

[Wheres Toto]

We have mandatory recycling. Our garbage pick-up is twice a week and is done through a contracted company. Our recycling is done through the town and they pick-up every other week. On the off weeks you can bring stuff to the municipal building collection facility. We have mixed recycling so the only thing that needs to be separated is paper/cardboard. We usually have one plastic storage tote type bin for all our paper/cardboard and one to three 30 gallon garbage cans of plastic/glass/metal (although I think we only use 3 if we miss a week). We have one 30 gallon can of garbage once a week usually.

 

I thought recycling was done everywhere these days.

[MSNative]

We don't have mandatory recycling and I do think that is too intrusive for the gov't. Where we live we get incentives to recycle - each pound of recycling earns you a point. Points can be redeemed for gift cards to local business.

[WarriorMama]

Mandatory here...I live in the same province as you. ;)

 

I'm in Toronto so we have one big bin for garbage, one bin for ALL recyclables, and the green bin for kitchen waste. My family has the largest size garbage and recyclable bins and TWO green bins (large household). We don't always fill the bins, but often enough that we can't go to a smaller size. If we didn't have a kid in diapers we wouldn't need the second green bin.

 

It was the green bins that took the longest to get used to for me, and I still find it annoying. Being home all day, with home-cooked meals and kids snacks and diapers, sometimes I have to empty that little bin they give you for your kitchen 2 or 3 times a day.

 

ETA: I also forgot to mention that they alternate weeks. Green bins get picked up every week, but garbage and recycling alternates...each gets picked up once every two weeks. The bins have to hold two weeks worth of garbage or recycling, so they're HUGE. If you only have a single garage and like to park your car in it, storage can be a real PITA.

Edited November 17, 2010 by WarriorMama

[HRAAB]

We have mandatory recycling in that you're charged more (we pay for trash pick up) if you don't use your recycle dumpster biweekly. We have always recycled so when the new policy was instituted, it didn't change the way we did anything. I admit it still rather irked me that if I didn't put out my recycle bin, I would be charged more on my monthly bill, but I didn't let it stop me from doing the right thing.

[Sherry in OH]

Recycling is encouraged but not mandatory here. Our trash bin usually is less than half full, but it is huge. Recycling is collected on the same day as trash. Plastics recycling is limited to types 1 and 2.

 

In my parents' town recycling is mandatory. They also have to have separate bins for each type of recyclable. We throw everything into one recycling bin.

[Caitilin]

I don't know if it's mandatory, but we have a wheeled trash can and same size recycling can. I fill the recycling every week and maybe half the trash can. It's picked up weekly. I don't mind doing it since it's all picked up the same day (Monday) and I don't have to haul it anywhere. There's no sorting other than recycling and trash. Easy peasy!

 

:iagree:This is how ours is too--and even with the 8 of us, we recycle way more than we toss. We also have a compost heap in the back.:)

[joannqn]

Here you pay for garbage pick up by the size of the can and pick up is either weekly or monthly. We use a 60 gallon can even though they suggested larger for our family size.

 

Yard waste includes yard waste, food scraps, and food stained paper (ie. pizza boxes) and is picked up every other week. There is a fee for it, and they require a minimum of 3 month contract. We'll sign up for that in the spring.

 

Recycling is picked up every other week. I think it comes with garbage service unless you won't only recycling, then you pay for it. It's a mixed bin; glass goes somewhere else (but they didn't give us a bin for it) and is picked up monthly.

[Laura Corin]

We probably put out two or three smallish bags a week of mixed rubbish. I also collect paper, cans, plastic bottles and glass separately, and drop it off at the recycling centre on my way to errands. There is doorstep pickup of recyclables in some areas, but not in this village. I have a compost heap for veg and fruit leftovers. We don't have mandatory recycling; local recycling rates are about 50% by volume.

 

Laura

[Amira]

It's mandatory here, but we'd do it anyway. We're also lucky to have a composting bin too that the city provides because we can't have our own pile. It's all very refreshing after living in a state where recycling wasn't exactly popular (if you wanted to recycle, you had to pay extra, and our apartment building didn't choose to, and there were few places available to drop your recyclables). I hated not even having the option of recycling or composting. We usually throw two grocery bags of garbage away each week.

[Cinder]

In our area recycling is neither mandatory nor encouraged. There is some minimal recycling--grocery stores usually have a box to collect plastic bags, on our way to the library there is a place with a couple large dumpsters to collect newspapers. That's all that I've seen around. I haven't sought out a recycling center because I don't want to collect all that then load it up in my car. We've lived in places where you had the option to recycle. I liked that. I'd just put my recycling bin next to the regular garbage bin and another truck would pick it up.

That's not even an option here.

 

Cinder

[Mom in High Heels]

We live on a military base in Germany where recycling is mandatory. And we do have garbage police. They come every week to inspect the garbage bins. We have bins for our entire stairwell (6 apts) and the garbage inspectors will do their best (which means going through the garbage) to figure out who it belongs to so they can be taken to task. It's a matter of money for the US gov't. The Germans charge for rubbish pick up based on weight, but the recycling pick up is free. Less rubbish=less money the gov't has to pay. We have 4 bins in our garbage "island" (the islands are locked and only accessible with a bldg key), one for rubbish, one for paper/cardboard, one for plastics/styrofoam/milk cartons/metal and tin cans and one for compost. Down the road (maybe 200 yards) we have a glass bin with slots for clear glass, brown glass and green glass.

We also have a recycling center where anything that can't be thrown away (corrosives, batteries, light bulbs, corks, electronics, etc) can be taken. They are very serious over here. Germans have to recycle by law and there are garbage inspectors who will fine them for not recycling.

 

I personally don't have a problem with mandatory recycling. I wish everyone had to recycle. I don't see why people don't, especially if it's made easy for them by curbside pick up. When we lived in an area where there was no recycling pick up, we separated our garbage and I took it to the recycling center closest to us. It was kind of a pain, but I'd much rather go through a little extra trouble to help keep all that junk out of land fills.

[Farrar]

I feel about mandatory recycling much the same way I feel about our bag tax (we pay a 5 cent tax on every single disposable bag you use at every store in the city - if you don't have reusable bags with you at the grocery, they ask how many bags you want to use and they charge you for it). I'm philosophically against it, but it's hard to argue with the positive results.

[Mrs Mungo]

It was mandatory when we lived in Germany, we had 6 kinds of trash to sort.

 

It's not mandatory here. However, we do pay a deposit for bottles and cans. You get the deposit back if you take them to the recycling center yourself. You don't get the deposit back if you use curbside recycling.

[Catwoman]

We have had mandatory recycling for years, and at first it seemed like a bit of a nuisance, but it quickly became routine. It's not a big deal in our area, as all types of cans and bottles can go together, and you just bundle up paper and cardboard.

 

Cat

[dsmith]

It's mandatory here, and I like it that way. Every week it alternates between cardboard/paper and glass/plastic/cans. We usually rent a house for a week during the summer, and it blows my mind when the area we choose doesn't have recycling. My inlaws drink so much soda that we actually fill 2 50 gallon garbage cans for the glass/plastic/can pickup. :001_huh:

[Ellie]

Yes, it is too much government control.

 

The last place we lived we had to use specific trash cans. We were not allowed to put out bags of anything.

 

I don't recycle. If it fits in my trash can or down the garbage disposal, that's good enough for me.

[bettyandbob]

Ours is not mandatory, but the trash company we contract with to do our pick up, does a recycling pick up. Before they started a recycling pick up, I collected our paper recycling and aluminum and hauled to a collection point our county had.

[In The Great White North]

I'm forever wondering what the heck they're putting in there!

 

How about diapers and cat litter?

 

I guess I could bring my recyclables to my mom's as she lives in the village but that seems dishonest somehow.

 

Go ahead and bring it to your mom's. It's a gift to the village - they get paid for it.

 

Where we live we get incentives to recycle - each pound of recycling earns you a point.

 

Someone actually weighs your recycling?

 

And we do have garbage police. They come every week to inspect the garbage bins.

 

The Germans were going through the trash looking for "recyclables" twenty years ago when I was there and I didn't live on base. Their definition of "clean paper waste" was not the same as mine! (nor would it be accepted at the local recycling center here.)

[eternalknot]

 

Anyone else have mandatory recycling?

 

How many bags of trash does your family put out by the curb each week? Do you recycle?

 

We have recycling. I have no idea if it's mandatory or not; I'd guess not.

 

We end up with very little waste. Our trash pick-up comes twice weekly and our can goes out once every 2-3 pickups (or roughly once every 7-14 days). No big bags, just a can that has everything thrown into it. We currently house 4 adults and 5 kids. Our neighbors are a family of three and have filled trash cans every trash day; it's amazing, and it doesn't even count their yard waste.

 

We don't use many things that could go into the recycle bin, but for the most part we do recycle. Not religiously or fanatically. We also recycle in the sense that we re-use as much as we can around the home, and make purchases with that in mind.

 

My SIL is a recycling-freak. She gets on everybody's case and makes it a moral issue, in which she - of course - is superior and right for recycling. Nevermind that she is always using paper and plastic products and purchasing convenience foods, hey! She recycles it all! It must be okay, right?! Wrong. Recycling is admirable, but it isn't always the most cost-efficient use of resources. Some of these zealots use it as a justification to continue on with their wastefulness - I never understood that.

 

Guess I had some venting to do. Sorry about the detour LOL.

[dm379]

It's mandatory here. The running joke in our compound is that you need a master's degree in waste disposal to figure out how to throw away your trash.

 

We get our bags from the building manager and they are labeled with our name and apt. number. They go through them and if they find anything that shouldn't be in there, it is a $5,000 fine and your picture goes up on your trash bins. There's also cameras on the bins so they can see who is throwing away the bags. I don't understand that part. For a 2nd offense, you get kicked out. You have to use special bags for non-recyclable items and they cost about $20/5. Food bags are tiny and cost less but I can't remember right off how much. Recycling bags are free.

Edited November 17, 2010 by dawn8500
typo

[thessa516]

Are there other people out there, like me, who have to pay MORE for recycling? If we'd like to recycle, there is an extra fee.

 

And our city wonders why the percentage of recyclers is lower than the national average. :glare:

[Gooblink]

Are there other people out there, like me, who have to pay MORE for recycling? If we'd like to recycle, there is an extra fee.

 

And our city wonders why the percentage of recyclers is lower than the national average. :glare:

 

Yes! We pay $4/month to recycle. I'm OK with that - especially that it's a choice. :)

[KS_]

 

Anyone else have mandatory recycling?

 

How many bags of trash does your family put out by the curb each week? Do you recycle?

 

We don't have mandatory recycling, nor do we have curbside recycling. We have to take all our recyclables to a drop off bin somewhere in town. So we have several garbage cans in the garage, along with several boxes, that we separate the plastics, cans, and paper into (corrugated cardboard just gets thrown into the garage) and then once every few months (when it starts to get out of control), we load it up and take it to a drop off bin.

 

For garbage, our town recently converted to city owned garbage cans for each residence, so their new trucks could pick them up and dump them as they drive by. Most weeks we have just a tiny amount of garbage at the bottom of this huge can.

[Tap]

All Recyling is free-no limit to volume

Garbage is not free

Yard Debris is not free

 

We have 4 bins and they all go out on the same day.

 

Household garbage regular size can: 2-3 bags a week and is decreasing as more recycling is available to be picked up. No organic waste pick up yet, but I am hopeful for the future.

 

Recycling: 1 very large unsorted bin (provided by the city) for basics like paper, metal, foil, food containers, plastic tubs, etc. Batteries can be placed in a bag on top of the can. I am impressed that they also take things like aerosol cans, paper milk cartons, nursery pots, scrap metal, buckets etc. A lot of things that were be no-nos are now allowed.

 

(light bulbs/large items ie electronics/medications etc need to be delivered to the transfer station by hand-most are free only a few have a charge)

 

Yard Debris: Very large bin (provided by the city) we put out one can most weeks but during certain times of the year, we put out 2. No food items are allowed, only yard debris. They offer once yearly free leaf pickup, allowing piles in the street to be picked up.

 

Glass: any color no restrictions.

[sarawatsonim]

Where we live we have mandatory recycling. The "garbage police" don't go through your trash to see if you offend, but I'm sure they would do something if there is a blatant problem though.

 

Garbage pick-up is free, but limited to 2 bags per house which I find to be more than sufficient. We also have a bin for compost-type materials (kitchen waste) as well as a couple bins for recyclable items.

 

At first I thought mandatory recycling was too much control by the government, but I think otherwise now. I'm pleased that waste is being reduced in our consumer driven society. After getting into the practice of recycling it really isn't too hard. I just put the items to be recycled in a different place than the trash.

 

I've lived in places where I have not recycled at all because it was quite labor intensive and picky. By that, I mean I would have to put all recycled items into my own container, transport it to the recycling center, and then separate the recycled items into their appropriate categories. Now, I just put everything in one or two bins and they pick it up at the curb and separate it themselves.

 

Anyone else have mandatory recycling?

 

How many bags of trash does your family put out by the curb each week? Do you recycle?

 

 

I'm in the same province as you and we have mandatory recycling. We have a two bag limit and a fee charged for any bags over the 2 bags, but we have unlimited recycling. I am assuming the extra bag fee would be incentive to recycle more. I've never thought about it being a negative thing because it's government controlled. I figure it's a small thing I can do for the environment that takes me 10 minutes tops on Monday nights. We have to sort our recycling here, but like I said no big deal and dd5 enjoys to help out. We use 3 of the tall recycling bins and they are usually filled by recycling day.

[AngieW in Texas]

We usually have 1-3 thirteen gallon trashbags each week. Even with 3 trashbags, our dumpster isn't even half-full. Our recycling dumpster is the same size as our trash dumpster, but it only gets picked up every 2nd week. I generally have it at least 3/4 full for pickup day, but I have had it filled all the way to the top several times.

[AndyJoy]

Are there other people out there, like me, who have to pay MORE for recycling? If we'd like to recycle, there is an extra fee.

 

And our city wonders why the percentage of recyclers is lower than the national average. :glare:

 

We are FORCED to pay 2x the amount we used to pay for just trash now that mandatory recycling has been added. No opting out, no hauling your own trash to the dump that your property taxes pay for allowed. You MUST pay $62 for one trash can and one recycling bin every other month. Extras cost more. There is a huge uproar in our town right now over this including recall of city council petitions, protests, people not paying bills, etc.

[MaMa2005]

No mandatory recycling here - we actually have to pay MORE to the trash service we use because we want to recycle :confused: . The recycling wheeled can is full every week. The trash wheeled can - one bag from the kitchen and then one small bag from the bathrooms. :hurray:

[kalanamak]

 

Anyone else have mandatory recycling?

 

How many bags of trash does your family put out by the curb each week? Do you recycle?

 

Yes, we have a smallish can for trash (which we pay for) and we participate in yard waste, for a little more. Recycling is in a huge container for all but glass. Glass we gather and drop off, ditto batteries. We have a toxic drop off place, too, but I've never needed it.

 

I love just how much goes out in that big bin. :)

Prior to living with recycling, we did it anyway.

Now, I'd love to live in an area that gathers compostibles.

[TravelingChris]

I live in an area where we choose our own trash service and pay for it. When we moved here, the trash bin and the recycling containers were left from the landlords. We continued with the same service. We aren't required to do anything. Last year, we recycled more. This year, we recycle a lot less. Why? Because I have a broken leg and my kids are usually too busy plus we have a very long driveway and it is too much trouble. So we have taken to recycling paper. Sometimes we put it out and other times we drive it in to the drop-off point (across the street from our pharmacy so not out of the way). I don't like mandatory recycling because it assumes that everyone is healthy and able to do it. I can assure you that cleaning cans and bottles is not something an arthritic likes to do particularly as because my anti-clotting medication stops me from having my arthritis well taken care of.

[mcconnellboys]

How could they enforce that?

[Mrs Mungo]

How could they enforce that?

 

When we lived in Germany? If your trash wasn't sorted correctly they dumped it all over your sidewalk.

[Skadi]

How could they enforce that?

 

I read recently that in many parts of Britain, they use video monitoring systems. They also have big signs urging people to report their neighbors through a hotline.

[Ravin]

We have city recycling, it isn't mandatory but we do it. I hated living in an apartment because they don't do it for apartments and when we didn't have a car, either, there was just no way recycling was going to happen (taking it to a community drop at the park).

 

Of course, my housemates (BIL, DH, DW#2) aren't especially good at it. I am forever picking flexible plastic (wrappers, bags) out of the recycle bin and recyclable plastic (TV dinner trays, fast food cups) out of the garbage. DD usually gets it right, except for today she put some polystyrene plates in the recycle, I'll have to correct her on that one (our recycle takes #6 polystyrene plastic, but not foam afaik).

[Mom in High Heels]

When we lived in Germany? If your trash wasn't sorted correctly they dumped it all over your sidewalk.

 

What town was that? I don't think they do that here. It seems kind of counter productive because then it could blow all over the place.

[Cinder]

How could they enforce that?

 

We had some friends who lived in a city where recycling was mandatory. You could only use clear trash bags and the workers were supposed to glance at it to see if you had recyclables. If you were obviously not recycling you got fined. If you used opaque trash bags your garbage wasn't collected.

 

Cinder