Thursday, May 22, 2008

NYC Subway trash-Recycled?

Hello All!
I was on the subway today when I saw these lovely trash cans.




I've heard rumors about all our trash being sorted and recycled, but is it true? Why not have separate bins? I did some digging and I thought I'd share what I found out. Apparently, all the trash goes to a place in NJ called All American Recycling in Jersey City. It gets sorted on conveyer belts and 25 people pick out the trash that can get recycled. 40% of the trash can actually be taken out and recycled! Which is about 7100 tons! That's lots!

Click here to see an interview with a lady who followed the trash to the recycling center and explaining why separate bins wouldn't help the situation (which is debatable).





So, it's true! Pretty impressive.
That's all!
Niki

3 comments:

deannagabriel said...

i offer a hearty THANKS to you, my friends at superforest, for checking into this! i noticed that a few weeks ago while i was waiting for a train at columbus circle and was quite confused. its good to know all that potentially recyclable rubbish isnt necessarily going to waste. strong work!

namaste.
--deanna :)

Dizzie said...

Well, Niki, we recycle about 90% of our stuff - we have three different trash bags to fill (one for composting, amongst others) and on every block, there's a recycle center for batteries, glass, metall, porcelain etc.

Environmental as that is, it still requires you to gather enough stuff to fill a car for the trip to the recycling center to be worth it...


But hey, every small step in the right direction is a good step, right? :)

CSD Faux Finishing said...

I must agree taht trash & recycle comingle anyway. In my town we have a two barrel system where they are attached: 1 side is clearly marked trash, the other clearly marked recycle. Every time I pass it you will find me fishing a Starbucks plastic cup off the top of the trash side & placing it in the appropriate side. It is good to know that NY will pioneer a real effort to ensure those mistakes don't happen.