Why is paper recycling so difficult and inaccesible?

Question

It seems as though recycling plasic, glass and metals has become ubiquitous (at least in my area of the Northeast). Why is it that paper recycling from home is still made so tedious? I don't get why all kinds of paper can't just be thrown in a paper bag and left with the other recycling material. Why does it need to be neatly bundled and twined, everything broken down? Don't they have machines for this type of stuff yet?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I have heard that they have, or are in the middle of developing a new sorting machine that will allow us to put all recycling into one bin without any sorting at all, which would make it much easier and get many more people to recycle.

Answer 2

I really didn't know it was.  I live in SoCal and here we throw all kinds of paper, plastic and glass all in one recycling bin without sorting.  The company contracted to pick it up has high tech sorting machines which separates all of the different types of paper, plastic and glass.  We haven't had to sort recycles in 10 years.

Answer 3

Because it wouldn't be economical to recycle without you sorting it.  Different grades of paper (writing paper, newsprint,etc) are recycled using different processes.  If you mix paper types together (even a yellow sticky pad in a trucklload of office paper) it contaminates that process and makes all that paper less valuable.

I agree that some of the measures are ridiculous and can even seem punitive at times (I have had the recyclers refuse to pickup bundled recycled paper during a work to rule action by the union because "the twine was too long"!).  Complaints from residents to the Mayor & Ward Councellors forced the company to send another truck, which was a huge waste of gas to do something which should have already been done.

Answer 4

People are stupid. Its like they could hire someone to do this c**p but no they espect us to do this when we already have a busy life with work, school, kids, and housework. If they want to convince people to recycle they need to make it easier for them.