Don't Crush Aluminum Cans (Page 2): Wrong, at least where I live. Once you put your recyclables out for pickup, it becomes the property of the County, and in theory generates revenue...

therwol Loc: USA

rmorrison1116 wrote:

Picking from trash that has been set out on the curbside for disposal isn't stealing.

Wrong, at least where I live. Once you put your recyclables out for pickup, it becomes the property of the County, and in theory generates revenue for them. If you pick out the aluminum for your own income, then you're stealing that from the County. This is the basis for the County citing someone who does this.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

therwol wrote:

Wrong, at least where I live. Once you put your recyclables out for pickup, it becomes the property of the County, and in theory generates revenue for them. If you pick out the aluminum for your own income, then you're stealing that from the County. This is the basis for the County citing someone who does this.

So picking from trash is OK but picking from recyclable material is not.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

rmorrison1116 wrote:

...No, I don't dumpster dive. I have no reason to, and I don't have a problem with those who do as long as they don't make a mess.

I will admit to having dumpster dived. Not something I do regularly but I scored two office desks from a dumpster once. One went into my office and the other went into the greenhouse (where it eventually decomposed due to a rough environment). When I moved, the greenhouse desk went into another dumpster (which I had to pay for since it took three 20 yard dumpsters to empty my house.

I also collected things set out by the side of the road. I had to hire a dumpster at the farm after a few years to make space for more useful stuff. Six kitchen sinks went into the dumpster. But 3 others got used for hand washing stations and other "useful" things. Also got a couple of countertops, which went into the vegetable wash house.

The vegetable washing area had a couple sinks fed by 1" pipes and ball valves. I could fill the sinks at 20 gallons/minute, so the large sinks could be filled in half a minute. I don't believe in rate-limited plumbing fixtures. Time is money. The hand washing station had an undercounter water heater. Really helped when washing lettuce at 20 degrees F.

therwol Loc: USA

DirtFarmer wrote:

So picking from trash is OK but picking from recyclable material is not.

I don't think that picking up trash is OK either. I'm not in law enforcement or in any way connected with the legal system, but I know that all of that stuff, once it clears your property, is County property where I live. Would someone come if you reported someone digging through your trash in front of your house? Maybe. Maybe not.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

In my area trash and recyclables are collected by private companies.

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

Wonder why this isn’t mentioned in psa’s or any ads abt recycling. Fist time i have heard anything regarding not crushing cans.

Red6

Stopped recycling several years ago. Local TV news crew investigation revealed that most of the recycled garbage was simply sent to the landfill since the local city and county governments lacked the funds to sort and process it properly. They even had video of the trucks emptying the recycling dumpsters into the same trucks filled with landfill-bound waste. The city/county was actually spending MORE money to collect it separately but then dump it all in the landfill anyway.

A little research showed that this practice is not that unusual. China used to buy all the mixed waste and recycle it in China. They stopped this several years ago and since then there has been little or no market for the waste if it is sorted properly. Many of the larger cities had warehouses full of scrap waiting to be hauled off somewhere. But since many of the local politicians/officials had ran on supporting recycling, they had to keep up the appearance of recycling with all the special collection cans, trucks etc.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

DirtFarmer wrote:

In my area trash and recyclables are collected by private companies.

We have at least three different trucks coming down our street collecting. Odd situation.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

DirtFarmer wrote:

In my area trash and recyclables are collected by private companies.

Same here.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

jerryc41 wrote:

We have at least three different trucks coming down our street collecting. Odd situation.

Every Monday, except holidays, four trash trucks come through the neighborhood. Two belong to a local company and two belong to a much larger regional or national company. For both collectors, one truck is for trash and one is for recyclables.

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

Some states require a deposit on bottles and cams that are aluminum or plastic. Those states will return the deposit when the items are returned to a recycling center but only if they are not crushed. The deposit is a good incentive for recycling and reduces the amount of trash ending up in land fills.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

therwol wrote:

I don't think that picking up trash is OK either. I'm not in law enforcement or in any way connected with the legal system, but I know that all of that stuff, once it clears your property, is County property where I live. Would someone come if you reported someone digging through your trash in front of your house? Maybe. Maybe not.

I have a private company that picks up my trash. If anyone wants to steal my trash they are welcome to it. It is outrageous that government would think the trash belongs to them. BTW very few items are actually recycled almost all recyclables go to land fill.

therwol Loc: USA

fetzler wrote:

I have a private company that picks up my trash. If anyone wants to steal my trash they are welcome to it. It is outrageous that government would think the trash belongs to them. BTW very few items are actually recycled almost all recyclables go to land fill.

I pay a deposit for beverages bought in aluminum cans or plastic bottles. (In California). When I put those out at the curb, the entity that picks them up gets that money if the cans/bottles are properly recycled. (I do realize that most recyclable cans and bottles end up in land fills.) If I don't put those cans/bottles out and take them instead to a private recycling company, they pay me by the pound, presumably calculated by the weight of each can or bottle. In the case of cans, I watch them put them on a conveyor that takes them to a machine that crushes them all down into a cube. I don't know what they do after that, but I presume the metal is actually recycled. It doesn't matter if I crush the cans or not. I'm paid by weight.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

therwol wrote:

I pay a deposit for beverages bought in aluminum c... (show quote)

There's a separate business in town that accepts all deposited containers. There are two or three guys working there, and they're fast and efficient.

nervous2 Loc: Provo, Utah

jerryc41 wrote:

It might seem like a good idea to crush aluminum cans before recycling them, but crushed cans do not go through the system very well. That can depend on how the cans are processed, though - but how many of us are familiar with local recycling systems?

https://lifehacker.com/dont-crush-cans-before-recycling-them-1833374490
https://www.rd.com/article/dont-crush-aluminum-cans-before-recycling/

The recycling depots are not as picky in my part of Utah. I crush the aluminum cans, put them in bags, throw the bags in the third garage bay, and when there's no more room, I call a friend who has a charitable organization and he comes and picks up the bags. He sells each load for somewhere in the $75 to $100 range and is thrilled to get them. He even sends me a receipt for the proceeds--although I tell him there is really no need to do so--and if I don't lose the receipts, I can write the amounts off on my taxes. Everybody wins!