From where I’m from plastic was kind of luxury until 90’s and that’s one of very few things from that country that would be great to bring back.
Inatead of cellophane bags there were netting bags or paper ones, bottles were all glass that got collected, sent back to factories to be washed and refillled. If one got their hands on plastic bag or bottle, probably somehow smuggled from the West - it was a goddamn status symbol from then on, and you don’t throw your status symbol away. 🌝
Not as much as you might think. A lot of places have stopped recycling glass because it’s hazardous and there are huge backlogs of recycled glass. Yes it recycles from a material science perspective, but from a logistics perspective there are issues.
You’re lucky, my area stopped recycling glass years ago. Like I said, there’s a huge backlog which makes processing less attractive. Also most recycling seems to be single stream (all recyclables go in one bin and get sorted at the facility), and broken glass contaminates the other recyclables which is dangerous to human sorters and is abrasive to machines.
I’ve seen a couple pilot programs pulverizing glass for concrete, but as with lots of recycling (looking at you plastic) in most places it’s not as simple as “Just recycle it”. Again, more a logistics issue than a material one.
I always thought it was extremely silly where I live there is just a “recycling bin”. The lack of specificity makes the problem worse because people get confused what is recyclable. The infamous example is disgusting dirty nappies going in recycle bin because they have plastic in them…
I’ve also seen family members put dirty plastic wrap / film in recycling, and composite materials like Doritos packets. I’ve tried to explain it but they just don’t get it, it’s too complicated for most people. That’s not saying they’re dumb or anything; it is complicated. That just means we should maybe consider simplifying it.
I feel like if there was a “glass” bin, most people would only put glass in it. Same with metal (not sure most people could separate aluminium with steel or anything like that).
I try to avoid looking in the bins here because I don’t think anyone else pays attention to what goes where and there’s always plastic in the glass bin and cardboard in the general waste
I’m always jealous when I visit a place which has separate bins for plastic, glass, metal, paper, and compost. I’m seriously considering trying to get on my city’s waste management board to improve our recycling. But we have to live in the environment we have until we can make it into the one we want.
End the microplastic pollution, use glass or metal
From where I’m from plastic was kind of luxury until 90’s and that’s one of very few things from that country that would be great to bring back.
Inatead of cellophane bags there were netting bags or paper ones, bottles were all glass that got collected, sent back to factories to be washed and refillled. If one got their hands on plastic bag or bottle, probably somehow smuggled from the West - it was a goddamn status symbol from then on, and you don’t throw your status symbol away. 🌝
That’s a very different perspective! Eastern Europe?
Yup. And yeah - it’s not like USSR didn’t have plastic - it simply wasn’t used for bags and bottles.
My wife is starting to get really irritated with me as I begin my recycled jar collection.
The problem I foresee is that most of my old salsa jar lids will eventually rust and I’m not sure what to replace them with.
You replace them new lids. Where I live loose jar lids are sold in packs in practically every supermarket. Really not difficult to find at all.
For Mason jars that is fine. My issue is with my Mrs Renfro salsa jars I’ve collected, they are not a standard Mason jar size lid
Where I live, you can just go into a market and find jar lids of any diameter. It’s really useful
Really? Find out why.
Glass recycles, so you could recycle the jar and replace it
You could also use beeswax wraps, or a silicone sheet and a tie
If you need the sterility of a sealed jar, I imagine you’ll just need to replace them over time
Not as much as you might think. A lot of places have stopped recycling glass because it’s hazardous and there are huge backlogs of recycled glass. Yes it recycles from a material science perspective, but from a logistics perspective there are issues.
Over here over 90% of glass put in the recycling is recycled into new glass bottles/jars. The rest of the glass goes into making roads
You guys having problems recycling glass?
I struggle to comprehend that the dangers of broken glass haven’t been overcome everywhere
You’re lucky, my area stopped recycling glass years ago. Like I said, there’s a huge backlog which makes processing less attractive. Also most recycling seems to be single stream (all recyclables go in one bin and get sorted at the facility), and broken glass contaminates the other recyclables which is dangerous to human sorters and is abrasive to machines.
I’ve seen a couple pilot programs pulverizing glass for concrete, but as with lots of recycling (looking at you plastic) in most places it’s not as simple as “Just recycle it”. Again, more a logistics issue than a material one.
I think it may be an issue in your area, also, where do you live? That’s such a bad way of recycling…
Single stream is really common in the US
Oh USA, that explains it
I always thought it was extremely silly where I live there is just a “recycling bin”. The lack of specificity makes the problem worse because people get confused what is recyclable. The infamous example is disgusting dirty nappies going in recycle bin because they have plastic in them…
I’ve also seen family members put dirty plastic wrap / film in recycling, and composite materials like Doritos packets. I’ve tried to explain it but they just don’t get it, it’s too complicated for most people. That’s not saying they’re dumb or anything; it is complicated. That just means we should maybe consider simplifying it.
I feel like if there was a “glass” bin, most people would only put glass in it. Same with metal (not sure most people could separate aluminium with steel or anything like that).
I try to avoid looking in the bins here because I don’t think anyone else pays attention to what goes where and there’s always plastic in the glass bin and cardboard in the general waste
I’m always jealous when I visit a place which has separate bins for plastic, glass, metal, paper, and compost. I’m seriously considering trying to get on my city’s waste management board to improve our recycling. But we have to live in the environment we have until we can make it into the one we want.
The return and earn program does dedicated glass, plastic and aluminium sorting and recycling fwiw