Its a start

[photoman]

Received this today and thought it was a pretty good start. Most people will only recycle if they are required to or if there is something to gain from it. I like that there is also a benfit to military members. Not ground breaking but it is a start.

http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/pepsico-unveils-smart-dream-machine-recycling-kiosks/6260/

 

[nbleak21]

Sounds like a huge waste of money, technology, and material to me.

Dont get me wrong, I love the concept and what it tries to promote... and hopefully it will raise a little more awareness in recycling... but...

Seriously? only made from 10% recycled plastic? and you know someone has to stop by that thing once a week to empty it... the only way that would seem practical is if the pepsi machine stocker loaded the coke machines, then loaded his empty truck with the recycled bit... (maybe i skipped that part of the reading)

I just think there's got to be better alternatives, more cost efficent and environmentally friendly than this box.

 

[southpier]

i just assumed that pickers go through trash at the landfill/ drop off point and the good stuff is cast off to be reclaimed/ cycled

 

[photoman]

Sounds like a huge waste of money, technology, and material to me.

Dont get me wrong, I love the concept and what it tries to promote... and hopefully it will raise a little more awareness in recycling... but...

Seriously? only made from 10% recycled plastic? and you know someone has to stop by that thing once a week to empty it... the only way that would seem practical is if the pepsi machine stocker loaded the coke machines, then loaded his empty truck with the recycled bit... (maybe i skipped that part of the reading)

I just think there's got to be better alternatives, more cost efficent and environmentally friendly than this box.

The idea is not to single handedly solve the problem but find a way to continue to change the publics efforts in making a change. It is an flaashy technological awareness effort among many others.

I saw a presentation today that estimates 685 billion bottles will be consumed in the next three years and 465 billion of them will not be recycled by the public. An interesting quote was also used- "Green has become the new beige"- we the public know we should be doing more but the effort has lost momentum in the media and in public venues.

Waste Management has partnered with Pepsi Co on these machines and is probably doing the collection of bottles.

Yes- 10% seems very low but both plastic and paper have low recycle rates. Glass and metal, including aluminum, have a much higher recycle rate but also have their own environmental, cost, and safety issues.


Like I said- it is a start to try and continue awareness and hope to change the publics impact. Businesses can only do so much. The real problem and solution still lies in the hands of the general population.

 

[nbleak21]

Yes, the amount of waste is extremely outstanding... I often find myself pondering ways of making use of recycleables myself in order to cut down on transit and reman costs for recycleables, but most involve the melting down of products, and for anythign more than plastics, that's out of my realm of cabilities!

I do agree on the awareness aspect, though i feel that there's got to be better ways to push it rather than fancy bottle crushers.

 

[photoman]

Yes, the amount of waste is extremely outstanding... I often find myself pondering ways of making use of recycleables myself in order to cut down on transit and reman costs for recycleables, but most involve the melting down of products, and for anythign more than plastics, that's out of my realm of cabilities!

I do agree on the awareness aspect, though i feel that there's got to be better ways to push it rather than fancy bottle crushers.

If you can figure that out I am sure there are thousands of people that would like to hear it and even help put it to use.

For the general public the issues are:
Cost- rural areas do not have same recycling capabilities as large cities- majority of the worlds population is still in rural areas- see China as example-
Effort- if recycling is not curbside service most people will not make the effort to take recyclable products somewhere
"What's in it for me"- mentality
Ignorance- many people are unaware of any of the statistics on everyday consumption. Forget global warming - just give them the hard facts on trash tonage and how much of that could be recycled
Confusion- still confusion on what can be recycled and what cannot. Not all papers and plastics can be recycled. Not all recycling companies take glass.

Cities have been slow to push the efforts as well. With the exception of California, Oregon, and Washington I am not sure there are many other states or cities that mandate a level of recycling and impose fines for not doing it. Not saying I agree with that technique but it is obviously an effective way to get results.

 

[cruisertoy]

My bet is that the machine itself uses about the same amount of energy as is being saved by recycling the plastic bottles in the first place. I grew up outside Boston and my small home town did not have a dump, but rather a transfer station. Newspaper had to be separated from magazines, clear glass from brown glass from green glass, wood and metals, different types of plastic were all put into separate dumpsters by you. There was no trash pick up, you hauled everything to the Transfer station yourself. There was and still is a large shed called "The Swap Shop" where you put anything that might still have value. You could take anything you wanted from the shop.

I now live in Utah where you have to pay for your own recycling. If you take stuff to the dump it all goes in one big pile. They do like you to separate out your metals, but that is mainly so the guys that work there can take the copper and Aluminum to the recycling place and keep the money. I took three aluminum rims out one time and they weren't happy. Dropped them off myself for $40 in cash. I took a two person bike one time and they raised such a fuss that I finally just paid the guy $20 and then he was fine.

The problem with recycling is that there are endless opportunities for gathering the recycled goods, but few products that can legally or profitably be made with them. The quality of the finished product with recycled plastic is often less than with virgin material. The way things are manufactured with injection molding and blow molding often does not lend itself to using recycled plastic. My bet is that the 10% recycled plastic that Pepsi is using in their bottles is not post consumer waste. Most of the time is manufacturing waste. I could be wrong. Without very careful sorting, whole batches of recycled plastic can be ruined because something "different" got into it.

If you want to make a difference in recycling, support or develop products that can utilize post consumer goods. There is a kid from BYU that has come up with some really neat stuff dealing with old tire. They have put glass into pavement. There is a guy in Northern Utah that takes any type of plastic and is able to fuse the shredded parts into pallets, railroad ties, trash can wheels.... There is some neat stuff out there, but it needs to be supported and developed.