# Does your community have Recycling Program? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233 "2011-12-06T04:02:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/1 "2011-12-06T04:02:07Z")
My mother recently moved from a far suburb of a large city to a bit further out rural town. I was kinda surprised that they never had recycling program. Does your community/country have recycling program? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/2 "2011-12-06T04:03:31Z")
Polls go in IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/3 "2011-12-06T04:06:59Z")
This is not intended as a poll… or is this type of question considered a poll? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/4 "2011-12-06T04:09:53Z")
There’s no “One True Answer” for your question. That’s what General Questions is for. You want answers from a whole bunch of people, and they’ll likely be a bunch of different answers. That’s a poll. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/5 "2011-12-06T04:22:26Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > There’s no “One True Answer” for your question. > That’s what General Questions is for. > You want answers from a whole bunch of people, and they’ll likely be a bunch of different answers. That’s a poll. “One True Answer” might be Recycling Programs in US are not as prevalent as some folks might assume? I don’t think this has anything to do with “opinion”. But mods, if **Mr. Slant** is right, please move this thread to IMHO. Danke. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/6 "2011-12-06T04:26:04Z")
A GQ for this would be: “What % of municipalities in the United States have recycling programs?” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/7 "2011-12-06T04:30:03Z")
I was coming into this thread to ask if there’s _any_ community (in the US) that doesn’t have a recycling program. Assuming your parents are in the US, I’m kind of surprised. I’m interested to hear how many other people don’t have one. I’d also be curious as to how much it would cost the city to implement it, unless we have any city employees on the board that pay the waste management bill I’d be surprised if we’d be able to get a good number on that off the internet that isn’t full of bureaucratic nonsense that makes the number higher or lower to prove a point. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/8 "2011-12-06T04:32:14Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > A GQ for this would be: > “What % of municipalities in the United States have recycling programs?” Gracias, **Mr. Slant.** Let’s let that be one of the questions as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/9 "2011-12-06T04:48:23Z")
What does “recycling program” mean here? Curbside recycling? A dumpster in a parking lot somewhere? Directions on the city website to the nearest place that accepts recyclables? ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/10 "2011-12-06T04:53:04Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > What does “recycling program” mean here? Curbside recycling? A dumpster in a parking lot somewhere? Directions on the city website to the nearest place that accepts recyclables? Curbside recycling. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/11 "2011-12-06T04:54:58Z")
I live in San Francisco. We have the [toughest recycling program in the country](http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-06-10/news/17207992_1_bins-fines-composting). Everything has to be sorted into garbage/recycling/compost. Since I also work in the city, we have to recycle there as well. Today, I saw a woman carefully dividing her lunch trash – plastic spoons and cups into recycling, foil container into the garbage, banana peel into the compost. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/12 "2011-12-06T04:55:12Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > There’s no “One True Answer” for your question. > That’s what General Questions is for. > You want answers from a whole bunch of people, and they’ll likely be a bunch of different answers. That’s a poll. This is correct. Moving to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Hilary\_Algar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilary_algar/32/4282_2.png) [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/13 "2011-12-06T04:59:46Z")
Yes, my (suburban) community has a recycling program–paper in one dumpster, mixed recylcing (but no styrofoam) in a second and trash and/or non-recycleables go in a third dumpster. By the looks of things, though, a whole lot of recycleable material is winding up in the trash/non-recycleable dumpster. On the other hand, a few years back our waste management company dropped our complex from its recycling program because too much trash/non-recycleables were winding up in the mixed recycling dumpster. We were reinstated about one year ago on a trial basis. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/14 "2011-12-06T05:02:33Z")
[This page](http://earth911.com/recycling/curbside-recycling/) doesn’t give detailed numbers or a date, but it does say that “curbside recycling now serves half of the U.S. population.” > [@Joey\_P](#): > > I was coming into this thread to ask if there’s _any_ community (in the US) that doesn’t have a recycling program. Mine doesn’t even have a trash program. Everybody has to pay for trash pickup from one of the private garbage companies. If any of them offer curbside recycling, it probably costs extra, and I don’t think many people will voluntarily pay extra for the privilege of making throwing things away less convenient. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/15 "2011-12-06T10:08:40Z")
I’m in Hampshire in the UK. I’ve got a green bin for general household waste, a green box for glass, and a blue bin for all other recyclable stuff such as cans, cardboard, plastic, and paper. The general waste is collected every week and the others every fortnight. There are also big recycle points at the big supermarkets, and bottle banks in various public places. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/16 "2011-12-06T10:32:22Z")
Curbside recycling (glass, plastic, yard waste, bulk paper items), plus locations to dispose of things like phone books and computers. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/17 "2011-12-06T11:40:51Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Mine doesn’t even have a trash program. Everybody has to pay for trash pickup from one of the private garbage companies. If any of them offer curbside recycling, it probably costs extra, and I don’t think many people will voluntarily pay extra for the privilege of making throwing things away less convenient. No public curbside trash pickup in this small New York town. I drive my trash and recycling to a transfer station, where there are Dumpsters for household trash, glass, plastic and cans, cardboard, newspaper, and bigger items, plus an area for appliances. There’s also a few examples of more direct recycling – for example, they collect empty egg cartons, and people with chickens can take them to reuse. I’m pretty sure the people who pay for private trash service (which is expensive) put out one only bin, so no recycling. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/18 "2011-12-06T14:38:59Z")
Where I live, there is single stream recycling–we just dump everything recyclable (except compost-type stuff) in an immense, wheeled bin they gave us. (If you put a motor on that bin, I’m pretty sure I could drive it across the country.) It’s very convenient. I live in Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/19 "2011-12-06T15:30:03Z")
Small suburb, we just got curbside recycling 2 years ago. It’s not mandatory to do but everyone has to pay an extra $1.25 per quarter or something. They only accept glass, metal, 1 & 2 plastic and paper. I take my paper elsewhere tho, to the local Humane Society that gets compensation per pound of paper they collect. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233/20 "2011-12-06T15:40:27Z")
In Columbus, curbside recycling is voluntary and if you want to do it, you have to pay $5 a month for the privilege. However, they are talking about implementing a citywide curbside recycling program effective sometime next year, which would be a huge improvement. I do see quite a lot of participation in the current program, surprisingly enough considering that you have to pay to do it. (We do, mostly because I can’t bear to throw glass or aluminum into the trash can, and I’ll gladly pay $5/month to save myself from the hassle of having to drive to a recycling drop off point every week.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-community-have-recycling-program/605233.md?page=2)