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Last Updated: 9:05 PM GMT on August 27, 2010 — Last Comment: 12:01 PM GMT on August 17, 2011

	Field Trip

Posted by: redtim, 6:04 PM GMT on May 10, 2010

I feel a bit like a 5th grader today. Shaun and I took a field trip to a Waste Management transfer facility, and now I'm writing a report about it.

Going to the facility was eye opening. Going into it I had a lot of misconceptions of what really happens and what happens to the waste we dispose of.
There were three main points I came away with from the trip. The first was, garbage is garbage. Once you throw something in that bin or dumpster, it is going into a landfill. No sorting, nothing. That makes sense, but I have heard many people assume that the garbage is somehow sorted. The second most eye opening thing we found out is all the plastic we send to be recycled is sent to China! Whoa! i never thought about that. Apparently the demand for recycled plastic is so much greater there. Also the other plastic that can't be recycled is burned to make electricity. The third thing that I found fascinating was just how much more can be removed from landfills fairly easily.

In San Francisco, recycling and composting are mandatory. This helps keep the volume of trash being put in the ground low. Composting is a great alternative to landfills, because the green waste breaks down into soil that is actually desirable to farmers and gardeners. The same stuff put in a landfill would turn into a putrid toxic slime. The same goes with recycling. Putting glass and plastic into a landfill just removes it from sight, it would take millions of years for the matter to break down in a landfill, whereas it can be recycled into something useful quickly.

In terms of what is recyclable, #1 and #2 plastics are most desirable. These are separated out from other plastics by special optical sorters at the transfer facility and bundled by themselves. The rest leave the transfer station, and get shipped to China to be burned. #1 and #1 plastics are also shipped to China, but they are recycled into products.

Glass is one thing that stays in state to be recycled. Gallo, a large wine producer makes most of the bottles for the wine industry here so they have the scale necessary to recycle most of our state's glass.

I meant to post this last Friday, but didn't pull the trigger. Sorry guys!

big ol' pile of cash

This photo was uploaded by: redtim

Shaun and I went to a Waste Management transfer station to see what happens to plastic when we are done with it.

field of dreams

This photo was uploaded by: redtim

Shaun and I went to a Waste Management transfer station to see what happens to plastic when we are done with it.

garbage moves fast

This photo was uploaded by: redtim

Shaun and I went to a Waste Management transfer station to see what happens to plastic when we are done with it.

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About redtim:

I'm a meteorologist, developer, here at the Weather Underground. During the month of may, i will try not to use any plastic.

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