Dear Jerry504:
--I live in the city which you claim to know more about than I do. Please note that the article you called our attention to says that the City of Orlando, is in the process of, but has not fully done so yet, getting rid of the Special Recycling Trucks. Trust me please, they are not doing this because the Special Recycling Trucks are a whomping success. Point in fact from an on the ground observer, less than 5% of households bothered putting stuff in the colored bins, it was a joke, most people found the bins useful for storage though. The City Beautiful is now going to issue very large containers for recycling which will be picked up twice monthly. Trust me, this is not because the three small bins, one for glass, one for plastics and one for paper, are a whomping success. Yes I know the article says every two weeks, but, trust me again, it will be twice monthly, the article lies, using the round off excuse. Secondly, you do not need a special program to recycle Metals, Appliances, TVs, Car Batteries, Usable Clothing, Usable Furniture, or anything of recyclable value. All you have to do is leave them by the curb and if they do not disappear within 24 hours I will kiss your a##, after giving you 24 hours to mark the spot, and then draw a crowd. True, the remaining 10 to 20 percent plastics, rubbers, glasses and fabric materials will show back up in the trash stream, no doubt. But do we really need a recycling program to separate these materials and then take them to the landfill, when otherwise they would be headed for the landfill anyway.
--Now, if on the other hand the purpose is to take as much money as possible out of the private sector and divert it into the public sector, then these kinds of programs are indeed, very effective. And I know that many people may be "marginally, OK with that" no matter what the real facts are. I understand and respect the people who hold those opinions, but I do not agree.
--In Orlando, rather Larger Orange County Florida, should I say, we have a special 5 cents per gallon container tax on one gallon plastic milk jugs, to provide for recycling costs. Guess what happens to the milk jugs when they are separated at the recycling center. Give that Gentleman a Cigar, that is correct, they are transported to the Landfill and discarded.
--Much is made of the fact that Cross-Linked Polyethylene or Polythene, for those of you who are standing upside down, right now, can be recycled into carpet fiber or planks for decks and benches. True enough, but the demand only equals 10% of the supply of discarded material, all the rest is taken to the dump.
--Jerry, your ideas and wishes in this area are indeed laudable, but between the idea and the execution, there falls the shadow. All of this government expenditure at taxpayer expense could be avoided, or alternately you could find something really useful for these people to do.
--How many aluminum cans have you seen lying around beside the roadside lately?
Dear SeanB:
I agree.
"The only relevant test of the validity of a hypothesis is comparison of prediction with experience. "
Milton Friedman 1912 - 2006
Best Regards
Clear Ether