Recycling Frustration in California.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

We are led to believe all plastics are recycled. And this bill may help, but until the food industry sells products of paper or other biodegradable containers, we can't really eliminate the damage being caused by plastic. "The Graduate" be damned.

"In California, a new bill to force corporations to put recycling symbols on fewer products has just passed the state assembly and is almost certain to become law. On first inspection, that might sound like a bizarre reversal for a state that has regularly led the way on environmental and climate issues. It's not. On the contrary, putting recycling symbols on packages that don't have a prayer of actually being recycled has been a commonplace form of "greenwashing" for some time now, and states struggling with the rising cost of trash disposal and recycling logistics are getting increasingly fed up.

The big culprit is, as you might reasonably guess, single-use plastics. One of the not-secret secrets of recycling programs is that just because a product is made of plastic that theoretically could be recycled, in practice, the numerous common variations used in manufacturing have very different properties to consider when it comes to actually turning the waste into some other future commodity. For example, #1 and #2 plastics are fairly easily recycled; #5 plastic, which many plastic lids and caps are made of, usually must be removed from the recycling stream."

https://crooksandliars.com/2021/09/california-stop-industry-lies-plastic

[onecaliberal]

1. In Fresno county where I am, we are only allowed to out paper and cardboard into the recycle.

We’re not even allowed to recycle plastic. I have to make separate trips to another place in the city, yet I pay for recycling.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

3. Orange County is probably worse.

I donate glass, metal, cardboard, plastic paper. The recycling center at the college started asking me to sort. I separate cardboard and paper, but put 1 & 2 plastic in big black plastic bags with cans and glass jars. I drop it off and run.

[crickets]

2. K&R for visibility.

[shanti]

4. Sacramento County here

and our recycling program is pretty good. Metal, glass cardboard and plastic all go into one bin, no sorting necessary.