Trash Facts

[Michael]

Here is a very interesting chart I just found.

The second pie-graph ought to be familiar since its normally the only one that is ever published. I've seen this pie-graphic a dozen times in various forms. However, that 2nd pie-graph only applies to "municipal collected" garbage - that comes from "consumers".

Look at the first pie-chart... it is the TOTAL amount of garbage/waste produced. Notice how consumer-municipal waste makes up just 2.5% of the total? :eek:

In other words, all the consumer end-use recycling in the world won't make even the tiniest of dents in our total national garbage production totals.

I'm reminded of this silliness whenever I hear about people having their water-supply rationed and rules against watering your lawn - given that consumers/householders consume only about 2% of national water usage.

So what do you think? What are we to make of this? What about the huge expense we are engaging in for the collection and sorting of municipal trash collection? This is barely a tiny fraction of the problem.

Seems like the public is being sold a false bill of goods here!

[partofme]

Sadly that is sort of the case when it comes to climate change. It's hard to take it seriously when people say you should unplug your phone charger when not using it considering the incredibly small amount of electricity it saves. Many people don't like the idea of the government making things mandatory but individual action just isn't enough with problems on this large of a scale.

[Americano]

Sadly that is sort of the case when it comes to climate change. It's hard to take it seriously when people say you should unplug your phone charger when not using it considering the incredibly small amount of electricity it saves. Many people don't like the idea of the government making things mandatory but individual action just isn't enough with problems on this large of a scale.

The only public conservation that works is one that directly affects the pocketbook, through either product cost or taxation.

I haul our trash to a transfer station for a cost including fuel that's about 25% of county collection and I'm not limited to one of those ridiculously small containers.

[partofme]

The only public conservation that works is one that directly affects the pocketbook, through either product cost or taxation.

I agree. Think that's why a carbon tax would be more effective than cap and trade. It's also much more simple that setting arbitrary limits. As far as trash goes I can't say I'm that passionate about the issue. When I hear of things like the island of trash in the pacific that's twice the size of Texas I feel something needs to be done but on the other end I'm not sure exactly what and how to implement it. While I do care about the environment to a certain level I'm not the type to put it above everything else.

[Greendruid]

I'd need more specific information about industrial waste to assess where the problems really are here. For instance, if the Kraft factory that produces "food" products is contributing to this, then the consumers of such products are partly, directly responsible for this waste as well. The onus of cutting back on this waste is on the producer for sure. The cost of cutting back will be and should be reflected in the product. Perhaps this would balance things out to counter the fact that it's currently cheaper to buy Kraft Dinner (Kraft Maccaroni and Cheese for our American friends) than it is to produce all the components yourself for an equivalent, healthier product. Industrial waste of this form should not be subsidised, whether its energy or water consumption, processing and burial of solid waste, or whatever.

If the industrial waste includes such things as hospitals, then this needs to be reigned in for the public to be accountable in whatever health system is present in the country in question. Incineration, burial of solid wastes and waste water are just a few of the costs associated with this type of "industry". Again, the hospital itself needs to be accountable to the public for creating the most efficient system possible in terms of waste production and management.

[Michael]

Well, when they speak of 'industry', I think they are referring to the pulp/paper industry, the chemical industry, the mining industry, the smelting industry, etc.

These primary resource extractors probably produce large tonnages of 'waste' products in their processes. This is part of the total 'waste' production of society.

As for Hospitals, as far as I know, most of them incinerate 'hazardous human waste' on location.

And I do know mid-size manufacturing companies have lots of 'old' equipment that we don't use anymore and it is just plain 'garbage' that no one will recycle at all. This includes LOTS of large and heavy machines. We are always told that its our problem to dispose of them and there are no services for this other than to call a disposal company (and they just drop it in a landfill).

And one of our neighbors at work is a small fruit/vegetable packing plant - they seem to have their garbage dumpster (which is a compressed dumpster) dumped daily. That's a lot of garbage!

And as a printing plant, we have about a ton of waste paper go to the recyclers every week.

[SMadsen]

The story told by the graph needs to contain information about what constitutes industrial waste. Waste from one industry is often the raw material for another industry. Yet it is indeed considered waste from a quite reasonable perspective even though it may not be applicable to this discussion.

[Michael]

The story told by the graph needs to contain information about what constitutes industrial waste. Waste from one industry is often the raw material for another industry. Yet it is indeed considered waste from a quite reasonable perspective even though it may not be applicable to this discussion.

Yes that may be a highly relevant (or spurious) point. But getting info on this topic is almost impossible. Apparently every study of the topic focuses entirely on the 2% generated by households and ignores the rest.

I'll keep an eye out for further information on 'total waste' and how its calculated.

[The Drunk Guy]

Yes that may be a highly relevant (or spurious) point. But getting info on this topic is almost impossible. Apparently every study of the topic focuses entirely on the 2% generated by households and ignores the rest.

I'll keep an eye out for further information on 'total waste' and how its calculated.
And what constitutes "Special Waste?" I see and asterisk, but no annotation in the pic.

[Evangeline]

I got my office to recycle. I had to call the city several times before I got the cans and bottles recycle bin. The paper recycle bin was one phone call, easy. And then it took months of getting turned down before I convinced them to give us a cardboard dumpster. They don't make it easy. If I weren't such a lefty tree hugger, I wouldn't have been successful. I pass out paper grocery bags to my co-workers for their paper garbage. They make some fun of me for it......and here I thought when I moved to California I'd live in a environmental loving, recycling heaven. Not so much.

I've been recycling since 1980 when I had to bring the cans and bottles to the local college recycling station in New Jersey. One lone truck in the parking lot at the school, no one else there when I dropped it off but the guy manning the station.

I really thought that 29 years later we'd be a lot better at this. I had no idea.