Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 48
  1. #1
    sathyashrayan started this thread.
    sathyashrayan's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Chennai
    Posts
    22
    Thanks
    14
    Thanked 31 Times in 13 Posts

    China's Waste Ban Is Causing A Trash Crisis In The U.S

    This video might open some new opportunity for Asia(except china) and Africa.



  2. The Following 4 Users say Thank You for This Post by sathyashrayan:



  3. #2
    msmoorad's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    690
    Thanks
    715
    Thanked 746 Times in 356 Posts
    best solution is to teach Americans to waste less...

  4. The Following 3 Users say Thank You for This Post by msmoorad:


  5. #3
    jimicrk's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    2,826
    Thanks
    2,917
    Thanked 4,837 Times in 1,877 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by msmoorad View Post
    best solution is to teach Americans to waste less...
    I guess it's always been easier to ship it off to another country and let them deal with it or just bury it. I passed by a landfill earlier this week and was amazed at how huge it was. Just cover it up with some dirt, plant some grass on it and forget about it. Man made mountains.
    Last edited by jimicrk; 09-28-2018 at 06:26 AM.

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to jimicrk for This Post:


  7. #4
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Tucson AZ
    Posts
    361
    Thanks
    306
    Thanked 579 Times in 231 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by jimicrk View Post
    I guess it's always been easier to ship it off to another country and let them deal with it or just bury it. I passed by a landfill earlier this week and was amazed at how huge it was. Just cover it up with some dirt, plant some grass on it and forget about it. Man made mountains.

  8. #5
    406Refining's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Billings, MT
    Posts
    253
    Thanks
    317
    Thanked 397 Times in 148 Posts



    This is the direction the US may have to take to handle the waste problems.

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to 406Refining for This Post:


  10. #6
    sathyashrayan started this thread.
    sathyashrayan's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Chennai
    Posts
    22
    Thanks
    14
    Thanked 31 Times in 13 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by msmoorad View Post
    best solution is to teach Americans to waste less...
    In this world of knowledge I hope there is neither a teacher nor a learner.

  11. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by sathyashrayan:


  12. #7
    sathyashrayan started this thread.
    sathyashrayan's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Chennai
    Posts
    22
    Thanks
    14
    Thanked 31 Times in 13 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by jimicrk View Post
    I guess it's always been easier to ship it off to another country and let them deal with it or just bury it. I passed by a landfill earlier this week and was amazed at how huge it was. Just cover it up with some dirt, plant some grass on it and forget about it. Man made mountains.
    Unless and until there is some toxic waste, anything can be re-used. Organic waste could converted as a agriculture manure, metal is recycled, paper waste re-used and the list goes on. There should be some system to solve the issue. Those developed countries like USA puts more effort on ways to re-use. They invest on new technologies. And country like us (India) finds ancient ways to solve the problem. I know one college professor who invented a way to build roads with waste polythene sheets. His effort never got recognised.

  13. The Following 4 Users say Thank You for This Post by sathyashrayan:


  14. #8
    Sirscrapalot's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2012
    Location
    A sandbar off the atlantic..OBX,NC
    Posts
    6,123
    Thanks
    11,885
    Thanked 8,781 Times in 3,853 Posts
    Up the road from me in Va beach they have Mount Trashmore.

    I **** you not.

    A hill, a very big hill..made out of trash. It's got grass and everything. They even hold a festival there once a year.

    Place is like a park with all the people it attracts to it. It's also very hard to miss on your way into Va Beach.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Trashmore_Park



    Far as China goes.....consequences for actions apply go government choices also. Trade/tariff/whatever wars impact everyone in big ways and small.

    Someone else will take it, or we'll find ways to deal with it. Hopefully without adding to air pollution. I like not breathing ****ty, toxic, smelly air.

    Then again...it's one reason I moved to a sandbar 2 miles out in the ocean. Much cleaner air.

    Sirscrapalot - Rawhide!

  15. #9
    hobo finds's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Nov 2010
    Location
    tucson, az
    Posts
    4,758
    Thanks
    6,037
    Thanked 5,910 Times in 2,556 Posts
    Big problem is mixing all the recycling together. If we were to keep it separate from the beginning it could be sold for more money, but we mix it all in the blue bins along with diapers and food waste and other trash. Least amount of effort to have someone recycle. At the scrap yard you get paid more if you have your metals separated than if you have them all mixed up.
    Better than the dump!

  16. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by hobo finds:


  17. #10
    RLS0812's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Bucks County Pennsylvania
    Posts
    895
    Thanks
    155
    Thanked 633 Times in 358 Posts
    I bet you it's going to end up in India, Pakistan or even Egypt .
    It's too expensive in the US to separate mixed plastic .

  18. #11
    Sirscrapalot's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2012
    Location
    A sandbar off the atlantic..OBX,NC
    Posts
    6,123
    Thanks
    11,885
    Thanked 8,781 Times in 3,853 Posts
    I agree it's far to expensive for them to sort at this point.

    Question is which costs more? Starting to sort now, or cleaning up whatever disaster is going to befall whatever country that takes it and lacks regulations to do in a safe manner to the environment and it's people? Nobody wants to go swim in water mixed with nasty fluids from whatever. Not to mention the things that leech into water supplies, basins, rivers, etc etc etc.

    An answer will need to be found eventually. Let's hope they don't choose the Ocean, space, or some other silly idea. Space debrie damages things..google it. Polluting the ocean doesn't help the sea life nor the people who eat said sea life. Makes you wonder..

    We can think up things like self-driving cars, spaceships, visiting other planets,atomic bombs, curing diseases, all kinds of nasty weapons from guns to nukes,crazy advances in health an technology...but we can't figure out what to do with all the trash mankind makes.

    Things that make you go hmmm...

    Sirscrapalot - If I had the answers....I'd charge people bacon for them.

  19. #12
    mikeinreco's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2011
    Location
    TENNESSEE
    Posts
    4,985
    Thanks
    1,257
    Thanked 5,023 Times in 2,351 Posts
    Just watch the movie Wall-E

  20. The Following User Says Thank You to mikeinreco for This Post:


  21. #13
    MattInTheHat's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Sep 2012
    Location
    rock hill, sc
    Posts
    1,464
    Thanks
    1,142
    Thanked 1,396 Times in 703 Posts
    people need to stop wish-cycling it basically turns their whole bin into trash
    Currently looking for a job in or related to scrap/recycling. Relocation is possible for the right offer.

  22. The Following User Says Thank You to MattInTheHat for This Post:


  23. #14
    HipoGear's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    May 2015
    Location
    Rochester, NY
    Posts
    734
    Thanks
    2,048
    Thanked 945 Times in 409 Posts
    The big problem is plastic. Made from petroleum. Perhaps the oil industry should help fund the clean up. Of course responsible packaging practices would go a long way to help too.
    Copper, brass, and Leather. 3 of my favorite things.

  24. The Following 3 Users say Thank You for This Post by HipoGear:


  25. #15
    eesakiwi's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Dec 2010
    Location
    NZ
    Posts
    2,531
    Thanks
    2,909
    Thanked 2,556 Times in 1,227 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by HipoGear View Post
    The big problem is plastic. Made from petroleum. Perhaps the oil industry should help fund the clean up. Of course responsible packaging practices would go a long way to help too.

    What would happen if they pumped the granulated waste plastic back down into the empty oil wells?

    Pressure + heat would pyrolysis it, but into what under those conditions & what happens to the Bromine from bromated fire retardant plastics.
    Though the Bromine probably came from the sea water anyway.

  26. #16
    jimicrk's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    2,826
    Thanks
    2,917
    Thanked 4,837 Times in 1,877 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by HipoGear View Post
    The big problem is plastic. Made from petroleum. Perhaps the oil industry should help fund the clean up. Of course responsible packaging practices would go a long way to help too.
    Why should the oil industry be held responsible for the cleanup. Do they make the plastic or do other companies make it?
    Just asking.


  27. The Following 3 Users say Thank You for This Post by jimicrk:


  28. #17
    jimicrk's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    2,826
    Thanks
    2,917
    Thanked 4,837 Times in 1,877 Posts
    I was working in Seattle a few years ago and had some trash I needed to throw away. The "recycling bin" had 3 holes with symbols above each. I put each item in it's correct hole and it all fell into 1 big effing trash bag. What a joke!

  29. The Following User Says Thank You to jimicrk for This Post:


  30. #18
    hills's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,525
    Thanks
    824
    Thanked 1,354 Times in 786 Posts
    Humm ... well ... ????? I'm not quite sure what to think.

    I really don't think of Maine as being all that far forward but i'm starting to wonder. Recycling here is so common place that it's just taken for granted.

    You know how it is ... you live in your own little world at the end of the earth and you're completely oblivious to what's going on in other parts of the country ? You just take it for granted that everyone else does the same ?

    You guys raised a lot of good points. If it's okay i'll offer some some solutions that have been in place for quite some time.

    For MSM: True enough ... we're a wealthy country and generate more than our fair share of waste. We have a consumer & service driven economy. We really should look into rebuilding our manufacturing base and taking all those American jobs that were exported to the East back where they belong. See ... you need raw materials for manufacturing. Recycled materials are perfect for that kind of thing. The Chinese needed our recycled materials to support the growth of their manufacturing sector. That's why we exported to them. It's all about the money.

    For Jim, Sir S. , 520, & 406 R: There really isn't all that much need to landfill anymore. We've had a waste to energy plant in operation since 1988. It's well proven to work in the real world and has reduced the need to landfill by about 90%. There are no perfect solutions but it's a fairly good one. Here's the link: PERC | Penobscot Energy Recovery Company

    HG: Fair point on packaging.

    Again, no perfect solutions, but we introduced the Maine Bottle Bill here back in 1976. It's been in operation for over 40 years. Best figures suggest that we're recycling 85 - 90% of our beverage containers now. It's proven to work.

    Nationwide we're landfilling somewhere around 20 billion containers a year. A nationwide bottle bill would create conformity and make a pretty significant dent in that number. It would create lots of scrapping jobs all up and down the chain.

    Our company has also recently gone to bio-degradable packaging for our meats, produce, and coffee station. The packaging is made from plant based products so there's not much petroleum being used.

    We also have a plastic store shopping bag recycling program in place. Some of the local gals knit them into women's handbags & other useful products. It's a nice little cottage industry that brings a bit of extra money into the household.

    Good point on labor & sorting HF: A lot of the labor involved with sorting here is provided by the consumers themselves.

    They feed the redeemable beverage containers into a Tomra reverse vending machine and get a slip that they can turn in for money. Quite a few poor folks bring back truckloads of bottles and then go to the store to buy their groceries. If not for the bottle returns ... they might not eat very well that night.

    Our transfer station ( aka: town dump) has all kinds of truck sized roll away containers for cardboard,glass, metal, and the different grades of plastic. Recycling and sorting is strictly voluntary but a lot of people participate. It makes them feel like they're doing their part.

    Anyway, it's said that "crisis" is also the same word for "opportunity" in one or more of the languages ?

    Why not look for ways to exploit this opportunity, make a few dollars, and build a more sustainable future for ourselves ?

    The heck with the Chinese !
    Last edited by hills; 10-02-2018 at 08:57 AM.

  31. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by hills:


  32. #19
    RLS0812's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Bucks County Pennsylvania
    Posts
    895
    Thanks
    155
    Thanked 633 Times in 358 Posts

    Exclamation

    Quote Originally Posted by jimicrk View Post
    Why should the oil industry be held responsible for the cleanup. Do they make the plastic or do other companies make it?
    Just asking.
    Let's just tax the # out of everyone !
    Plastic is used for everything from medical devices, to car parts, to building material . Trying to blame the oil industry for plastic trash is the equivalent of blaming the tobacco farmers for cigarette butts !
    Most plastic manufacturers are outside of the US, so I would love to see how 'making them pay' works.

    To answer your question, I worked on a project at the Kraton facility over in Ohio ... it's very dangerous work, and folks end up getting killed on maintenance all the time. I have never seen an oil refinery make plastic products.
    Next time you use a plastic power tool, drive your plastic car around, or eat food that was stored in a plastic container, just remember that many folks DIE to keep the plastic processing plants running.

  33. #20
    mikeinreco's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2011
    Location
    TENNESSEE
    Posts
    4,985
    Thanks
    1,257
    Thanked 5,023 Times in 2,351 Posts
    Mmmmm....eating lunch here at wendy's catching up on some forum posts


  34. Similar threads on the Scrap Metal Forum

    1. Replies: 5
      Last Post: 02-28-2017, 06:07 PM
    2. Curb Shopping Causing Towns To Loose Money?
      By PickerBenny in forum Legal Topics - Laws, Certifications, Contracts etc
      Replies: 19
      Last Post: 05-14-2014, 07:01 PM
    3. Well, we figured out what's causing my vertigo
      By TheHoss in forum Off Topic Discussions
      Replies: 22
      Last Post: 05-24-2012, 12:58 PM
    4. hello everybody here ! New from CHINA
      By Pliny in forum Introduce yourself
      Replies: 15
      Last Post: 07-23-2011, 12:18 PM

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 2 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 2 guests)

 
Browse the Most Recent Threads
On SMF In THIS CATEGORY.





OR

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

The Scrap Metal Forum

    The Scrap Metal Forum is the #1 scrap metal recycling community in the world. Here we talk about the scrap metal business, making money, where we connect with other scrappers, scrap yards and more.

SMF on Facebook and Twitter

Twitter Facebook