Why dosent all the trash that can be recycled be recycled?

Question

why dont they put the recycable stuff that goes in the trash in recycling place. If we are really running low on natural resources they should do that.

Answer 1

We have tried to use the paper and plastics as fuel for power and the environmentalist blocked it.

Answer 2

Because I think its too hard to recycle.

Answer 3

to bad it doesn't it would make life simpler

tires are recycled in many ways they are melted down with asphalt and made into roads the city of Ottawa has been doing this for years it gives the road flexibility and longer life,the city of Sudbury also did this on a smaller scale with its track facilities at Laurentian University the running track was paved with this material and it adds cushioning on the feet of the runners.

as for reusing lumber from torn down homes not feasible the wood is structurally not sound as for all the holes that are in it from electrical wires drilled and water lines drilled in the wood and all the nail holes and other problems with the wood from water damage to insect damage.In some larger cities contractors do go in and remove what they can for material value(scrap metal copper materials) to moldings and stair rails.This is a flourishing business try to match up a molding from a home in the 20's or30's or fixtures or hardwood floor pieces there are lots of people that make a living doing this.

As for house hold waste people are limited to what is picked up at road side for recyclable materials and not enough people reduce or reuse materials  there are 3 R's we need to apply all 3 in our daily life styles

Answer 4

because people are too lazy to do it!

and...

I think i've figured out one of the reasons many people dont bother recycling. When I lived in the "city" i had curb side trash pick up. and recycling pick up. you put all your recyclables in a bin, all paper/cardboard in paper bags on top of the bin and that's it. Well I had my first experience with my new towns "transfer" station this past weekend. What a pain in the butt. First, they only take plastics with the 1 or 2 (which doesnt include things like yogurt containers, prescription bottles, etc.. ).. Then they want everything sorted. You have to dump it in different bins based on what it is. Plastics with a "1" in one bin, Plastics with a "2" in another, cans in one, glass in one, cardboard in one, newspaper in one, magazines in one and Misc paper in one. It seems like they want us to have like 20 bins at home to sort everything.. ugh.. or i can spend an hour there everytime i go to sort my stuff. Maybe i'm just used to the convenience of curbside pick up, but it seems like a lot of work, work that most people just cant be bothered doing.

and...

Does recycling always makes sense? No, not always. Recycling sounds great, but recycling costs money and uses energy, too. Recyclables have to be collected, sorted, shipped to manufacturing plants, and then made into new products.  

Collecting recyclables is only the first part of the story. We can be good citizens and recycle our trash, but if nobody wants to buy the recyclables, we haven’t accomplished much. In other words, somebody has to want to buy old newspapers because it is cheaper to use them to make a new paper product than it is to use virgin paper stock.

What happens when nobody wants to buy recyclables? The East Coast experienced this problem about 15 years ago when there was a glut of old newspapers. Communities on the East Coast collected newspapers for recycling, but nobody wanted to buy them. The newspapers just sat around in warehouses waiting to get a second life.

That is not recycling. Recycling means to make something old into something new. Collection is only the first step. There is good news for the East Coast, though. Thanks to consumer demand for recycled paper products, the newspaper glut has disappeared. Today, many recyclers are eager to get their hands on as much used paper as possible.

reasons for not recycling:

      

Recycling facilities too far away

No kerbside collections

Will have little effect on the environment

Lack of suitable storage space in your home

No recycling facilities at all

Lack of time or desire

Little or no glass\cans\paper

Other reasons

No reason given

Answer 5

The answer to this is simple: cost. Take wood, for example. If a house needs to be taken down in order to put a new one up, it would be highly possible to take the whole thing apart with a crowbar and a hammer and a saw. But all the nails would have to be removed as well. This is very time consuming and no one wants to pay carpenters to save lumber - the resale value of such lumber (with the added labor&shipping costs) would be much higher than that of fresh lumber from the mill. The same goes for things like plaster. Scrap wood can and is used to make things like matchsticks and toothpicks, and also particle board, which is a fairly bad construction material.

Scrap wood can be broken down by enzymatic processes to liberate methane (a very usable and clean fuel), but on an industrial level (such as what cities would need) the vats would be huge and cities simply haven't caught on to this yet. Other materials like tires are made of composite materials that make them difficult to use for anything else - Asians make sandal soles out of old tires but these are very stiff and uncomfortable. Melting tires to reclaim the petroleum that was originally used to make them takes as much energy as it generates (or nearly as much); melting tires also release toxic gases that have to be scrubbed or neutralized, another cost factor.  Tires, actually, are an environmental nightmare from start to finish. They're a fire hazard if just piled up somewhere, a toxic poison if dumped into water, and useless for just about everything else.