"The commonly quoted statistic is that the majority, about 80 percent, comes from land. It gets washed by runoff or blown by wind into the ocean or into waterways that lead to the ocean. The rest, about 20 percent, comes from catastrophic events or maritime sources, much of it fishing gear. In my work, I focus on municipal solid waste and poor design of trash receptacles, collection vehicles and landfills, especially in rapidly developing economies where waste management is lagging. Deliberately tossing litter or open dumping and burning trash is a part of human nature and how we’ve historically managed waste. But some cultures still do it."
"That wasn’t a problem for the oceans until plastics came on board. If you throw out metal or glass or burn paper, that’s one thing. But plastics are persistent synthetic polymers that can last for centuries. The steep, steep increase of production of plastics, 620 percent in the last 40 years, has completely changed our waste stream."
"By keeping non-biodegradable substances such as plastic out of landfills, most recyclers believe they are doing the environment a favor. Why just dump it when it can be reused? Trouble is, much of it isn’t reused. It is dumped in landfills. That is why so many recycling programs lose money and have to be subsidized by customers or taxpayers."
"As of Jan. 1, China banned imports of plastic waste. About 45 percent of that material from throughout the world has gone to China for the past quarter-century. Chinese recyclers have used some of the plastics. The rest goes to landfills, and the Chinese are tired of being the world’s dump."
"A few months ago, my partner and I went snorkelling off the coast of Indonesia. We dove off tiny deserted islands and swam in the deep with giant manta rays, but what I remember most vividly about that trip was not the stunning coral or dazzling array of colourful, curious fish; it was the sheer amount of garbage in the water."
"Shopping bags, plastic cups, toothpaste tubes, orange peel, all manner of human debris followed the currents; waves and waves of junk pooling in the shallow waters. In these parts of the reef, the water was cloudy and full of so much microscopic debris that it stung the skin. I remember watching a majestic giant turtle swim through the gloom as my head bumped against an old Coke bottle bobbing on the surface of the water."
If the city has listened to Tim Truscott and retained dual stream recycling they might have not be facing this problem.
"So don’t give your recyclables a bubble bath, but don’t worry that you’re undoing all your good work by giving a reasonable rinse. You’re making the world a little less filthy."
All the experts said single-stream recycling was bound to fail.
The politicians didn't pay attention to the experts.
Do you think the politicians now will realize they made a mistake and go back to dual-stream recycling?
Single-stream recycling -- It’s “sweeping the country,” but does it lead to more recycled material and less trash in the landfill?
I live in Durham, North Carolina, but spend some time in New York City. In my NYC digs I recycle the old-fashioned way — separating plastics, paper and glass, and throwing them into separate bins.
But in Durham I just toss everything into a single cart and put the cart by the sidewalk every other week. From there, a truck picks it up and hauls it away, the plastic, paper and glass all jumbled together. And jumbled together they stay until arriving at a materials recovery facility (or MRF, pronounced MURF) where everything is separated out into its various recyclable and unrecyclable components.