Talk about BS

[SidecarFlip]

Waste Management blows and Republic sucks. We have a local refuse hauler that keeps getting bigger and bigger as people quit WM and Republic.

IMO, that recycle crap is just that. I've watched WM dump the 'recycle' can in the back end with everything else and they charge extra for that.

We don't recycle anything anymore. All goes in the can and off to the landfill. Outta sight outta mind.

I think personally that picking up garbage and rubbish, the more you can soak a customer the more you make because no matter what company picks up your stuff, the tipping fee is the same.

Besides, garbage men get to pick through the stuff in search of treasures. Amazing what some people throw away...

 

[m.t.hands]

IMO, that recycle crap is just that. I've watched WM dump the 'recycle' can in the back end with everything else and they charge extra for that.

We don't recycle anything anymore. All goes in the can and off to the landfill. Outta sight outta mind.

i believe a lot of places it is a scam (paying for services not provided) i was recently at a facility and they were emptying regular and recycle cans all into the same compactor, so i ask the guy, and he says "doesn't matter it's all going to the same place" think it was repubic

 

[sheepfarmer]

It apparently all depends. A lot of recyclable material was going to China and now they don't want it. Also the price has dropped, and so the places to send it have dried up. So while the big companies like Granger and Waste Management used to hand sort the stuff out of the recycle truck, it may not be profitable so of course they don't. I'll ask if they are still doing it around here. The company I use is very particular about what they will take, but I imagine there are plenty of jerks that can't keep it straight about which types of plastic will recycle and which won't. I am not sure what happens to the consumer presorted stuff that goes into the big dumpsters that are available at the university and some townships.

Pity really.

 

[Redlands]

China has probably gotten far enough along with their resource assets and supply chains to no longer need the recycling materials.

 

[SidecarFlip]

There is an outfit near us called Clean Tech that recycles used plastic and makes it into pellets for extrusion. Where they get their feedstock I have no idea but it's a going concern, they just expanded their building and hired some more employees. Could be all the soft drink bottles that Michigan charges a 10 cent deposit on for all I know. I do know that the local Kroger store has a whole row of bottle eaters in the back.

 

[twomany]

Trash and organized crime have always been closely affiliated.

It is the EXception that proves the rule!

 

[D2Cat]

The rest of the story. To cancel the unknown to me agreement we signed required a letter dated no more than 180 day, and not less then 90 days from the signed agreement date sent by certified mail.

So with their teams of lawyers you jump through the hoops, and if you stumble one time you on the hook for another 5 years!

I send the letter a week ago and asked for a confirmation email, so I know we are on the same page. Got a phone call today letting me know they have the necessary paperwork and as of this coming March 1, my accounts with WM are closed. Oh, but wait. Two totes at two locations. They have to pick up the totes. Cost.....$150 per tote!!!! I told that lady NO WAY. She said she was giving me a break, they normally charge $185. I told here I would deliver them to the same place I picked them up years ago, all four of them. It's two miles from my house. So who do I have sign for the receipt of these totes? I will have a printed paper ready for someone to sign saying they received them, that's for sure.

The wanted to do anything to "earn" my business. When I said my last invoice was $65 plus $5.80 surcharge, and residence in the same town are charged $16 for the same service....you can't earn my business. I'm going else wear.

After dealing with Waste Management this quote came to mind. "The more people I know, the more I understand why Noah only let animals on the boat."

 

[michigander]

our township stopped re cycling last year it was all going in one bin


plastic Is going in landfill , rather than dumping below in landfill


cardboard I take to work dump in crusher gets recycled
metal cans go to township metal scrap bin
glass and newspaper goes to another city recycling

 

[fruitcakesa]

At our transfer station[formerly "the dump"] we still have "zero sort" recycling but I don't know where it goes or what they do with it.
The fellow who operates the station checks in the recycling dumpster after someone puts in a load and pulls out all the deposit bottles and cans that many [most?] folks throw away.
He gives half the deposit to our local VFD and with his half pays his health insurance premium
It is mind boggling what some folks consider trash and just pitch.

 

[dlsmith]

My daughter lived in The Netherlands a couple of years ago and said that everything except food waste was recycled.

There is no reason products couldn't be packaged in recyclable paterials, other than the marketing departments want "pretty" packaging so more suckers will buy them.

I recently spent 4 or 5 hours disassembling and old Xerox copier so I could recycle everything possible. Most of the plastic components were ABS and there were a few small aluminum parts and steel parts and screws. The electronic parts went in with the computer mobos and expansion cards.
Only had about 3 or 4 pounds of non-recyclable parts out of a 50+lb copier.

 

[skeets]

We use to have a glass plant that had large truck sized container bins for recycled glass. Green glass in one brown in another clear in another all they asked was remove the paper and lids.
The would then use the glass in making new stuff. They stopped taking glass because they had so much more than they could ever use, and couldnt get rid of the excess, they had to pay to get it hauled away to a dump. So yes they were getting free raw material to work with they got more than they bargained for

 

[Howling]

When we bought this house there was a WM tote in the yard. Tote had been sitting at empty house for 1 1/2 years and was full of rain water. I drilled a drain hole at the bottom so I could move it.

Called to have it removed. Was told have to setup an account and pay a removal fee. Set a deadline for them to get it or it was going to local transfer station. They complained but did pick it up with the set time.

 

[lugbolt]

This local po-dunk little town that is closest to me wants $25/mo for trash service. Before I agree, I want to see how much trash I make (I live alone), see if I can justify the $300 a year for trash service. That includes a bin and a recycling bin.

The second week I was here, I carried 2 bags of trash to work with me, left them in the big dumpster and went to do my job for the next 8 yours. I asked the boss about it when he came in and he said yeah no problem; unless the dumpster is FULL (they don't want it overflowing for obvious reasons). There's a cardboard only dumpster and a trash dumpster and a wood dumpster and a scrap metal dumpster, so as long as I'm working there, trash service is "free". The local town's city hall called a week or so later as a follow up and I told them I'm not interested in their service. So the lady was real nice about it and politely mentioned that the county has ordinances against trash buildup in the yard & around the house. I took it as an insinuation that I was gonna "dump" the place up which I don't and won't do. That kinda rubbed me wrong, BUT as someone who works in customer service I also understand that she probably didn't mean it that way, just came out that way--and I let it slide. I just told her I'd burn it and she didn't have any problem with that. Odd.

I just throw my one bag a week in the truck and take it to work, normally on Saturdays. I get some shop trash too but usually that stuff fits in the car's trunk, like old blades, scrap iron (throw it in a box into the trunk), cardboard, etc. Nothing big (usually). Big thing there is that I don't do NEARLY as much in the shop as I used to.

 

[SidecarFlip]

My wife has been slowly getting hotter and hotter about the company that picks up our refuse. The price is fine but the refuse truck people are destroying out Rubbemaid trash cans. I think it's on purpose so we will 'rent' a couple of their cans with their name on them.

Just got done patching a couple with Gorilla tape.

People across the way rent their cans and they treat them carefully. Not ours.

 

[D2Cat]

You can purchase 96 gallon trash totes, the exact same style and quality, at Home Depot for about $90. Almost indestructible. Even if they destroyed them yearly, I would not rent from the haulers!

 

[skeets]

Well we did get a new hauler,, and yes we had to get one of their cans,, thats extortion is what I told the lady,, she just laughed. So they dropped it off 2 days ago,, and this SOB is a bright PINK I mean you can see this can a mile off, they say it is for breast cancer awareness. I cant argue with that, so there is a small pink can and a big ass green WM can lets see what happens, she did say I could put out 2 cans

 

[vic gerbasi]

we here are going thru a similar change here is ur ofset plan go buy burn barrels and sell them at a small markup-enough to have urs paid for- thus reduced garbage for pickup u could possibly get devices to hold recyclables and do the same

 

[D2Cat]

Well today I got an email from Waste Management, wanting me to fill out a survey wanting to know "How Are We Doing". Do they really want to know or even care?

I just asked them to confirm my cancellation notice, which I actually already have!

Wonder if I'll get another notice for a survey?

 

[SidecarFlip]

It's a 'make a customer feel wanted' thing, probably perpetrated by HR and never read.

 

[SidecarFlip]

You can purchase 96 gallon trash totes, the exact same style and quality, at Home Depot for about $90. Almost indestructible. Even if they destroyed them yearly, I would not rent from the haulers!

Maybe we should switch to 55 gallon open head drums...?