Let’s be honest. Are you really sure that
all the items you’re putting into your recycling can belong there? What
is recyclable, what is trash?|
all the items you’re putting into your recycling can belong there? What
is recyclable, what is trash?|
To a large extent, the answer starts with where you
live or work. Are you in a town where residents and businesses are still
required to put out one curb container for newspaper and a second for bottles
and cans?
live or work. Are you in a town where residents and businesses are still
required to put out one curb container for newspaper and a second for bottles
and cans?
Or are you in Burlington
County, NJ where residents put all their ‘recyclables’ into one can and
workers at a recycling plant pluck the ineligible items from a fast moving
conveyor belt?
And even if you enjoy the luxury of such a ‘single-stream’
system, are you sure that the types of plastics or paper that you’re chucking
into the recycling can really belong there?
system, are you sure that the types of plastics or paper that you’re chucking
into the recycling can really belong there?
This month marks the
first anniversary of Burlington county’s conversion to a single-stream operation at its Robert C. Shinn Recycling Center in Westampton.
first anniversary of Burlington county’s conversion to a single-stream operation at its Robert C. Shinn Recycling Center in Westampton.
Philadelphia Inquirer
staffer David O’Reilly visited to see how things are going and found a
quiet-seeming brick building “where white trucks arrive each weekday to deliver
350,000 pounds of recyclable material – and some that is not…”
staffer David O’Reilly visited to see how things are going and found a
quiet-seeming brick building “where white trucks arrive each weekday to deliver
350,000 pounds of recyclable material – and some that is not…”
Inside, he discovered
“a roaring steel behemoth of conveyor belts and sorting equipment bearing names
such as “scalping screen,” “glass trommel,” “drum
magnet,” and “air drum separator” sorts a seething river of
refuse into wrapped bales of reusable material.”
“a roaring steel behemoth of conveyor belts and sorting equipment bearing names
such as “scalping screen,” “glass trommel,” “drum
magnet,” and “air drum separator” sorts a seething river of
refuse into wrapped bales of reusable material.”
He also learned a bit or two about what is truly recyclable
and what is not—at least in Burlington County, NJ.
and what is not—at least in Burlington County, NJ.
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