October 18, 2021
Have you ever stopped to think about what happens to the items you put out in your recycling bin? What about the ones you bring to a recycling center? Each goes through a process of collection, processing, and eventual reuse.Some items are more challenging to recycle than others. That’s why you start to run into […]
October 7, 2021
Labor shortages are hitting cities across the U.S. Waste and recycling is just one industry impacted by the lack of applicants. Jacksonville, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; Miami, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; and Northampton, Pennsylvania, are just a few cities struggling to find enough drivers for recycling and trash pick-ups in the past few months. Currently, more […]
September 29, 2021
Break down the numbers when it comes to household waste. There was over 294 tons of waste generated in the U.S. during 2018. Of that, about 94 million tons were recycled correctly or composted. That’s about 32% of all waste is recycled. Many states want to improve recycling rates. It often means coming up with […]
September 22, 2021
Per the EPA, 292.4 million tons of waste were generated during 2018. Of that, approximately 94 million tons were recycled or composted. That’s only a third of the trash that’s generated is actually recycled or composted. If you take out composting rates, only 69 million tons were recycled. There’s a lot of room for improvement, […]
September 7, 2021
During 2018 and 2019, researchers from the University of Missouri and the University of Bologna (Italy) took time to find out how much waste was being generated during school lunches. Upwards of 53% of the foods in a school lunch were ending up in the trash. Compare this to 30% in Spain, 29% in Italy, […]
August 30, 2021
Why do some people still hesitate to embrace recycling? Between 2015 and 2018, the number of tons recycled increased by 2.2%. You might think that’s good news, but there’s a problem. While the number of tons went up, the overall recycling rate, including food and yard waste recycling, dropped. Decreases are attributed to these two […]
August 17, 2021
Think about the average lifespan of electronics. Most people will say you’re doing great if you can keep your laptop or cell phone going for five years. A printer is usually lucky to make it past nine years. Monitors have an average lifespan of eight years. Refurbished items have shorter lifespans.What happens when it’s time […]
August 9, 2021
California’s Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Bill (SB 1383) goes into effect in 2022. One of the most significant changes will be the requirement for food scraps and edible food waste to be composted instead of thrown away. Starting on January 1, 2022, food scraps, yard trimmings, and other forms of organic waste will be collected through curbside […]
July 27, 2021
Any plastic piece that’s less than five millimeters in length is known as microplastic. To better understand how tiny these pieces are, a grain of rice is a little larger. It’s about the size of a pencil eraser.Microplastics come from plastic that’s not recycled and breaks down. Small fragments chip or flake off as the […]
July 19, 2021
Recycling goes back farther than you might think. In the 1800s, collectors were known as “ragmen.” They would go from home to home looking to purchase people’s old rags. The ragmen sold those rags to industries that turned them into paper.At the same time, workers at local garbage sites would sort through the trash that […]