Recycling in Tucson? (Green Valley: apartment complex, credit, loans)

[bethtee]

I’m new to Tucson, and my apartment complex doesn’t have recycling bins. Where can i recycle plastic, glass, and paper? Not wanting to make any money from it, but just want to know where apartment dwellers can take their recyclables.

[grmi66]

Just throw it in the trash, it all ends up in the same place for the most part. China has stopped buying our recycling and a lot of cities are simply mixing it up with regular trash. It might make you feel better to throw it in a designated recycling bin, but it still ends up in a landfill.

[bkolodzi]

I agree with grmi66. It is the same where I live in Green Valley about 25 miles south of Tucson. I actually saw my trash company mix trash and recyclables. As I understand it, there is no money in recycling at this time, so it is not happening

[tijlover]

There was an interesting article in The Economist recently, entitled Recycle Or Else. Shanghai has the strictest recycling program of any city.

"The threat of punishment is integral to Shanghai's drive for recycling. Individuals who fail to recycle could be hit with fines up to $29. For repeat offenders, the city can add black marks to their credit records, making it harder for them to obtain bank loans or even buy train tickets."

"Rubbish must be divided according to whether it is food, recyclable, dry or hazardous."

Here, in Tucson, we have too many burial places for trash (that's the problem!) and in China, they simply don't have the burial places like we have, unless you cart it all off by train to the Gobi Desert.

[motormaker]

China is no longer accepting trash from the US. Many trash recyclers are closing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...-trash/584131/

[steiconi]

I've heard that recycling cardboard is still profitable.

[motormaker]

Originally Posted by steiconi

I've heard that recycling cardboard is still profitable.

Could be, I know grocery stores make a big deal out of recycling their cardboard.

[grmi66]

Originally Posted by motormaker

Could be, I know grocery stores make a big deal out of recycling their cardboard.

One of my old clients used to purchase all of that stuff and send it to Korea and China, almost 80 containers a month from just Arizona. Grocery store boxes cannot be recycled in the US as they have been manufactured with recycled cardboard over and over again and don't have enough fiber content left. But send it to China and they will keep recycling it until the cardboard is see-through.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by motormaker

China is no longer accepting trash from the US. Many trash recyclers are closing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...-trash/584131/

A good portion of waste today is headed for Africa.

[bethtee]

Thank you for all the responses to my post. I guess everything is going in the dumpster, although it feels wrong after recycling for so many years. A good motivation to especially reduce my plastic consumption even more, I suppose. Thanks again, everyone.