# How do they fine you for not recycling? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-fine-you-for-not-recycling/612824 "2012-02-14T17:26:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-fine-you-for-not-recycling/612824/41 "2014-11-13T16:56:39Z")
I’m sure it does, but at least paper theoretically is biodegradable. If nothing else, it’s compactable. You can’t crush down a milk jug or 2-liter soda bottle very far. Volume is as big (perhaps bigger) an issue with recyclables getting into the landfill as losing the potential of recycling the PETE or polyethylene. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-fine-you-for-not-recycling/612824/42 "2014-11-13T18:29:21Z")
My town just went to single-stream recycling. We used to separate it into three categories: paper, cardboard, and everything else. Now it all just goes into the same hopper, and somehow it costs the town less to do it that way. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-fine-you-for-not-recycling/612824/43 "2014-11-14T00:52:11Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > My town just went to single-stream recycling. We used to separate it into three categories: paper, cardboard, and everything else. Now it all just goes into the same hopper, and somehow it costs the town less to do it that way. That’s still two streams, though - recyclables and landfill. You still have the expense of two trucks and their associated logistics support. The guy I spoke to was specifically recommending one stream, in which anything not extracted for recycling was sent to the landfill. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-fine-you-for-not-recycling/612824/44 "2014-11-14T01:26:51Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Around here they use the trucks with the arm that grabs the can and tilts it up into the truck, nobody even touches, much less looks in the trash can. That makes disposing of the dead bodies so much easier. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-fine-you-for-not-recycling/612824/45 "2014-11-14T04:58:45Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > The problem in most apartment buildings is that they have only 1 chute for garbage, and none for recycling. So people have to carry that down, which is inconvenient and often doesn’t get done. Some apartments have dealt with this by telling tenants to use white bags for garbage & black/green ones for recycling, and put either down the chute, but that still requires someone to eventually sort them out at the bottom of the chute. Hijack: Back in the days when I had to drive my garbage to the transfer station and pay $4 a bag, I asked my brother in NYC if he had a garbage chute. Not only did he have a garbage chute, but you could push a button to tell it if you were depositing trash or recyclables and it would sort it. But yeah, when I was in the Bronx and they came out with mandatory recycling, they certainly made us think they would be inspecting everything and fining us if needed. ---
**Author:** ![Jesta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Jesta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesta)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-fine-you-for-not-recycling/612824/46 "2014-11-14T11:40:42Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > That makes disposing of the dead bodies so much easier. Not if you’re in Australia though… " The camera on the front left of the vehicle will record the placement of bins, and will also be a record for the council of whether or not a bin has been placed outside by a householder. Council waste and recycling manager James Stanfield said this would enable them to check if someone complained they had placed their bin outside and it had not been collected. “If we have missed it, we’ll go back and get it,” he said. Another camera will record the bin being lifted, \*\*and one inside the hopper would examine and record incoming waste. “This is important for the recycling collection, because we can see if people are putting items such as green waste or nappies in their recycling bin\*\*,” " [http://www.news-mail.com.au/news/waste-truck-watching-you-garbage-council-removal/577961/](http://www.news-mail.com.au/news/waste-truck-watching-you-garbage-council-removal/577961/) https://www.youtube.com/embed/v3TDIWJrhTo?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLJtBooDnTptcoO2xBkPf3Y8ksiBzBNPsE [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-fine-you-for-not-recycling/612824.md?page=2)