recycling problems

[gookalockgeek.livejournal.com]

I live in Somerville (though not in Davis Square) and I'm having an issue with my trash/recycling. Last night my landlord showed up at my door and yelled at me for having cardboard boxes and paper bags full of recycling next to my recycling bin, claiming that he has been repeatedly fined for this by the city of Somerville. He demanded that we throw all our recycling in the trash to avoid this. We complied because he is scary and was in our building unannounced and had caught us off guard.

This morning, I cleaned up the 6 bags of trash my neighbors had thrown on the curb (most likely what he is actually being fined for) and put them in trash cans. Then I stood at the window and watched the trash truck throw away the contents of not only the several trash cans, but my clearly marked blue "Somerville Recycles" recycling bin.

Has anyone dealt with this problem before? What do I do to stop this? I moved here from Brookline, where you're fined for NOT recycling, and now I am being punished for doing so.

EDIT: I called 311 and reported the issue, but I'm going to leave this up to let people know that their recycling might end up in the dump if they don't pay attention to who is picking it up!

Comments

[djdreilinger.livejournal.com]

I know the individual jetpacks are a little behind schedule, but you'd think the brilliant scientists of our time would've found SOME way by now to make a pizza box that can be easily disassembled and put in the trash.

[ron_newman]

Although, if they don't want me to recycle the pizza boxes, why do they want me to recycle those cardboard containers of dried fruit (raisins, prunes, apricots etc.) ?

I always recycle pizza boxes.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I flatten them and put a string around them. They usually take them! I don't get that policy either, though.

Re: I always recycle pizza boxes.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

Please stop doing that. Unless your pizza boxes are actually clean, putting them in the recycling contaminates the batch and cause much more paper than just your box to be thrown in the trash.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

The problem with pizza boxes is the grease that soaks into them.

They're recyclable in Cambridge if you turn them inside out and tear off the greasy parts. I'd thin if you did this in Somerville, they'd get picked up, since they wouldn't look like a pizza box any more.

[ron_newman]

Sure, but the insides of those raisin and prune cylinders are pretty greasy too.

[cold-type.livejournal.com]

Then put them in the trash along with your pizza boxes.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Maybe the processes that cardboard goes through to be turned into other paper-based products has a problem dealing with grease that the process that turns plastic scrap into other plastic does not.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I believe that problem is called rats. Apparently pizza is mondo tasty to them.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

But what about food residue on other items left in the recycling bin? Rats are really that picky??

[beezy515.livejournal.com]

Grease is definitely a problem with paper recycling. The grease remains, so the recycled paper will have areas that are more translucent than others.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

Yeah, grease from pizza boxes can mess up a whole batch of recycled paper. Interesting article about it here (http://earth911.com/blog/2009/03/02/the-pizza-box-mystery/).

[ron_newman]

The dried-fruit containers I'm talking about are made of cardboard, not plastic.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

The brands I get must have some kind of coating inside the cardboard, because I can wash the residue away.

[gruene.livejournal.com]

If they have food residue, you should throw them out. Just because the city didn't toss them on the sidewalk, doesn't make them recyclable.