Why The US Loses $800M A Year In Unrecycled Aluminum Cans | Big Business | Business Insider

[@andrefrcek3862]

I’m an engineer at a Hydro plant in CA and I worked at their casting and extrusion plant in FL. Truly an awesome company! So happy to see them represented by BI!

[@patrickwynkoop9442]

Hydro is great there should be more I make My living off recycling American needs more n I speak English cause my ancestors had to they should also have to learn English n they are not the only people that depend on recycling yet they refuse to learn English n since open borders it's been harder to find scrap because of illegal immigrants

[@shreksleftnut8190]

Hey I'm an engineering student and I was just wondering, why do they extrude the metal into circular/round ingots rather than square?

[@jayd6083]

Landfill “mining” will be some of the most productive mines in the future

[@zyxw2000]

American landfills are regulated, and must be covered with soil and a huge tarp each night. Only approved trucks can enter the landfill. Landfill mining isn't possible.

[@jayd6083]

@@zyxw2000 did you catch the word future in my previous statement? Regulations change as do availability of raw materials.

[@zyxw2000]

@@jayd6083 They've become more regulated over the years. If you've seen videos of landfills elsewhere, you'll know why. We're not going back to that.

[@etonmows7901]

I think they are implying it will become a actual legit regulated industry where companies come dig up landfills for the resources within, not just a bunch of scavengers. And I completely agree, landfills are going to become a huge source of resources in the future

[@zyxw2000]

@@etonmows7901 Landfills are covered over with earth and grass and made into forests or public spaces. They're going to dig these up, and then go through mountains of garbage? Where's your common sense?

[@MadelineRose-ep7fj]

Litter picking is my main volunteer job. It is so rewarding to see clean roadsides and hearing the "thank you's" from neighbors and friends. I'm in WA on Whidbey Island where solid waste is trucked off island. The Department of Ecology prints up bags and pays volunteers to pick trash along roadsides.😊

[@georgewashington7829]

Pays? That's awesome, is it a bounty program or a hourly thing? The only issue with bounties is India tried something similar only it was "please kill and turn in X snake" so people started farming them. I assume they have some system in place to prevent fraud? Thank you for helping keep our communities clean, I live WAY away from Washington but you're still appreciated ma'am!

[@SeriouSXXFireworks]

That should be everywhere. Think about how clean our country would be if they paid people to pick up trash. How much do they pay you?

[@sprankster2]

Nice, I use to live in Coupeville and would use the recycling center their.

[@AndersJazz]

5 cents is just too little money for it to be worth it for consumers to recycle. I live in Denmark, any store that sells a bottle must accept the bottle back at the same price. Cans and 33cl bottles are 1dkk (roughly 0.15usd), 1,5 for half litres and 3 for large bottles. The results are almost 99% return. Any can left outside of or in a public trashcan is picked up by a "freelance bottle collector" within hours. As long as you throw your can in a town/city where it can be seen, somebody will find it and recycle it for you (the money). We also seperate our trash, now by national law: compostables, paper and cardstock, metal, glass, plastics, and we got a box at each adress to put batteries, lightbulbs, leftover chemicals and other hazardous trash. It works.

[@giuliani3570]

Here in Michigan, since the 1970's, we have a 10 cent deposit. You pay that when you buy the drink (it is not all cans or bottles). Then you can take them back anywhere, not just where you bought them. It certainly made things cleaner around the Detroit burbs. You never see cans laying around. The homeless get them if nobody else. when I was working those lower paying jobs when I was young, bottle returns were how I managed to get a Large drink from 7-11 and maybe a snack.

[@mynameisschezuan]

In Norway 96% of all bottles and cans gets recycled they pay $2.5 - 3 cents per bottle

[@zyxw2000]

In NY, there's a bottle bill, but the 5 cent deposit has never risen. And as they said in the video, containers containing only certain liquids are covered under the bottle bill. Not juice or iced tea, only soda, seltzer and water. And store brand containers can be returned only to the store that sells them. A lot of people, I guess, don't bother returning their cans and bottles.

[@stopnd]

The best form of charity possible. Instead of giving money to poor for nothing.

[@EmilyBieman]

That’s very impressive in Denmark. I’m afraid Australia is pretty similar to America. Our recycling system is really inadequate, only touching the surface of what needs to be recycled. I can’t believe how tardy they are, in getting off their arse and doing something about the recycling. You know I think it starts with awareness, so if I was PM (!), I would force television advertisers ect, to give reduce rates, or even free advertising to people who want to promote a recycling environmental scheme.

[@vipahman]

It's 10-cents in CT and yet there's very little recycling. And I for one am happy to see street recyclers make a living while improving our resources and saving the environment.

[@jebeda]

The price should probably be doubled (or tripled) and tied to inflation though. I think inflation adjusted the deposit on a can when I was a kid is about 27.2 cents in 2024

[@CameronsCandorOriginal]

I recycle ALL my cans. It's a win-win. You get a little extra money AND you help the environment. More people need to get on that bandwagon.

[@skyh]

Not everyone is going to recycle their own cans to take to the buyer. Leaving it in their recycling container for pickup by local government or private hauler is more convenient.Some households don't even drink too much canned soda and beer and have to store it until you get enough to take to the recycling center.

[@colonelspicymustard]

@@skyhtrue, not everyone. but a lot more people

[@skyh]

​@@colonelspicymustardThat sentence makes no sense.

[@colonelspicymustard]

@@skyh Sorry for the confusing wording. All I mean is that you’re right that it’s not feasible or realistic for everyone to recycle them in every situation. However, I think the original commenter is right to say more people can and should take their cans to the scrapyard.

[@Joe-sg9ll]

do you pick pennies out of the gutter? same thing

[@aaronedmunds4829]

The amount of aluminum ending up in landfills is enough to build a fleet of planes !

[@E-BikingAdventures]

And a fleet of lawn furnitue for a Walmart store.

[@VeteranE-4]

All of my local recycling centers have closed. Now the closest is 30 min away which makes it impractical to recycle cans and bottles. You’d spend more in gas than you’d make back.

[@gincee6156]

Collect together with friends or neighbours & take turns, to go to the recycling center Whoever goes, keeps the money. Easy.

[@THEHARSHMJAIN]

In germany you have to pay 25 cents on top of the original price which is called Pfand which you can get back, and 8 cents for glass bottles like beers.

[@JordanYouTube]

15c for 0-499ml, 25c for 500ml - 2L for Plastic/Aluminium cans & bottles in Ireland. We recycle glass so well we didn't need to put a price on it

[@blackbearelectronicswithco9541]

I love America, but it can be boneheaded in many ways and this is one of them.

[@TTOS69]

Lol American companies don't give AF.

[@phoebus86]

In California, there is CRV, but it is unfortunately not everywhere in the States

[@skyh]

​@@phoebus86Good

[@elrobo3568]

When my wife and I were married in 1967 I was in the USAF making $86 a month before tax. We would go to parks and other areas and collect bottles to return for cash. The drive in movie was $1 per car and Jiffy pop was about 40cents. I wish all states would put a larger value on cans and bottles so more would be returned. And then there is the plastic grocery bags........

[@Beregorn88]

It's not a monetary problem, it's a cultural problem: in Italy we recycle more than 80% of ALL wastes, not just aluminum, without any economic incentive (just a small discount on garbage tax if you compost organic fraction in your backyard). Until people start realizing that dumping garbage in the ground is not a good idea, the problem would not be solved...

[@benmoi]

also 80% of waste sytems in Italy are controlled by mafia.. Also Italy isnt the best eather as you export a lot of combustible waste to other countries like Finland and Sweden because burning waste is not somehow plausible in Italy.

[@cqpzg]

Then why is the Sarno so polluted?

[@88porpoise]

​@@cqpzgAgricultural runoff and industrial waste, not consumer waste (or recyclables in general) like this video is about.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

We don't recycle them because it doesn't make thermodynamic sense.

[@grantcivyt]

Putting garbage in the ground is actually not a problem. There's plenty of room. It's mostly a political problem.

[@draco4540]

i'm from michigan. it's surprising how many people will go around collecting returnable cans/bottles. glad to see people out there collecting cans. it means less trash in the landfills and some pocket change for those who are willing to collect the cans. it's 10 cents per can/bottle. it can add up pretty quick.

[@draco4540]

@@Member00101 totally agree.

[@dannydaw59]

At :14 mark: The US recycles less than half of it's Aluminum cans.

[@Nathan-d8d]

Here in alabama it's cheapest. 35 cents - .75 cents a pound for cans ive wonder how many cans make a pound. 05 each may be rolling in high cotton 😂😂

[@draco4540]

@@Nathan-d8d michigan passed a law back in 1977 (if i remember correctly), where pop/beer cans are 10 cents each. it really cut down the amount of cans being thrown away. a lot of cans still do, but, majority of cans do get recycled. there are a lot of people who are financially struggling go around and try and find cans.

[@Nathan-d8d]

@draco4540 iam 71 model lol i remember late 70s mid 80s we took certain coke bottles back for refund. We'd get like a 12 pack don't remember the brand, but We'd get a mix. Dark cola root beer, grape ,orange, etc

[@2cartalkers]

Every stae in the USA should have at least one of these recycling facilities. States need to step up the recycling amount per item too.

[@zyxw2000]

No, the federal government needs to legislate this. Every recycling facility is privately owner, and some places have none at all. And the recycling of plastic is a scam.

[@2cartalkers]

@@zyxw2000 They recycle plastic in Africa and make a type of brisk out of the material. I agree the Feds need to mandate recycling but since we live in an Extremely Capitalistic country the mysterious "they" will not allow that to happen unless "they" can make a buck off of it.

[@warrensteel9954]

They should just mandate all containers be recyclable and add a healthy deposit on them so they all get returned for deposit.

[@gregorymalchuk272]

​@@warrensteel9954No they shouldn't. No artificial inflation.

[@TheBlackBuddha17]

@@zyxw2000 youre over the age of 40 and probably think that we shouldnt have nuclear too huh

[@hermaeusmora2945]

$800 million dollars worth of aluminum...only pays people $.05 for returning cans. Gee, why does no one recycle?

[@izzyrov5814]

In Germany the deposit is 25 cents €, so people return cans. It's a simple solution.

[@Q3hero]

just do it anyway? It's like a shopping cart, just return it.

[@Hoggaforfan]

Sweden pays ~10 cent, you don't go to the recycling with 1 can at a time but rather you collect until you think it's to much and then it's a few USD. Think most of Europe has that system. It creates a habit.

[@JonathanBirdsey]

The government makes more money when people don't recycle, because they get to pocket those nickels/dimes, and the deposits are worth more than the raw materials. $800 Million dollars worth of aluminum is worth $1.1 Trillion in $0.05 deposits. In my state the deposit went up to $0.10 this year, if every state did that then the deposits would be worth over $2 Trillion. What frustrates me most is that I have always recycled, but putting the cans at the end of the driveway means I forfeit my deposits and let the government keep them. The only way to get my deposits back is to drive all my cans to a redemption center - the environmental impact of every house driving to a redemption center would certainly be worse than a single truck doing curbside pickup. The answer can't just be increase the deposit to $0.25 a can, because it is a punishment to those that are doing the right thing and putting their recycling at the curb, or into the recycling bins on the street.

[@matt45540]

Yes because the five cents is worth more than the can. That's the exact issue is that I can by itself is relatively worthless, but when you add up the global consumption of anything that becomes a massive issue. And here in the US we've trained lazy compliant people

[@oliver3d3]

In Denmark our deposit on plastic and aluminium are 0.15$ for small bottles, 0.29$ for medium and 0.44$ for the big ones

[@dl3217]

My mom helped get the "bottle bill" passed in Michigan. Growing up I would dig through the trash cans at the tennis club where my mom played and would take the cans to the front counter where they would give you the 10 cent deposit back. I could easily make a dollar or more while my mom played. Which was decent money for a pre-teen kid back in the 70s.

[@KennysTrucks]

If you want clean recycling, then go back to the recycle crates that made you sort by material type. This one big bin is just used as an extra trash can.

[@zone4garlicfarm]

The combined recycle bins are perfect for people who can't tell if something is a cardboard box or a glass bottle.

[@zyxw2000]

The single stream method is used where there's a Materials Recovery Facility that sorts it out with laser beams, even the 3 colors of glass. We have that in my county.

[@88porpoise]

Both have their flaws. With sorted recycling, people are often confused as to what goes where and end up just tossing it in randomly or throwing it in the trash. With unsorted, they tend to just toss anything that may be recyclable into the bin. And this ignores the massive clusterfark that is plastics. No matter what, you need consumer buy in and, right now, for a huge part of the US that simply isn't there.

[@zyxw2000]

@@88porpoise The recycling of plastic is just a scam. Only #1 and #2 get recycled, if anything, and they must be mixed with new plastic. And there are only 25 plastic recycling plants in the US. The recycling of other materials is relatively more successful. I agree that many citizens just don't care in general. In Japan, you put your name and address on your bag of recycling!

[@GoingtoHecq]

It is absolutely vital for a society such as ours to have people dedicated to cleaning and recycling.

[@luisj.serrano5821]

It is very easy to make people give cans back. When buying a can charge 25c for it, recieve again 25c when returning it. Done

[@roberthousedorfii1743]

Hell, charge $1.00 EVERYONE will recycle. There are simply too many stupid people who vote AGAINST this stuff..

[@28704joe]

@@roberthousedorfii1743 I don't know how much is stupid people vs corporations that LOBBY to prevent charges so they make as much profit as they can

[@gregorymalchuk272]

We shouldn't be artificially inflating the cost of goods.

[@luisj.serrano5821]

@@gregorymalchuk272 thats not a cost, you pay for the can and get the same ammount of money back when you return it. thats how it works in Germany

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@luisj.serrano5821 It's not economic or thermodynamically favorable to recycle them. Government mandated deposit schemes don't fix the problem.

[@larsmichael7162]

I see aluminum cans as free money. A few bags of cans, and I walk away with $10 to $20 in cash from the scrap recycler.

[@Michael-yb7jh]

The thing about that is $10-$20 isn't even worth a trip somewhere in my opinion

[@zyxw2000]

But you have to rake through people's garbage to find the cans.

[@John-Smith02]

​@@Michael-yb7jhon the way to somewhere else though

[@thedopplereffect00]

If your time is worthless, sure

[@zombl337og]

@@Michael-yb7jh lazy

[@jonathanthink5830]

The $0.05 per can is not a cost. It is a refundable incentive to encourage recycling. Oregon has high recyling rate because they implement an honest system for consumers to claim the money back. California has misused its CRV as a tax revenue to fund all kinds of govt spending, like pension. That's why california does not want to implement a similar system as Oregon.

[@jeffbenton6183]

Thanks for that information. As a Californian, I have an idea on why we made that mistake. It's in our state Constitution that the Legislature (subject to gubernatorial veto) can't increase taxes on its own. Each increase must be approved by referendum. For a proposition levying a new tax to go through it needs 60% of the vote (ironically, a state constitutional amendment only requires a simple majority).

[@rkevic]

hardly any recycle station that will pay 5 cents a piece, nor there is that many recycle center. Feels like that deposit is up to no good.

[@warrensteel9954]

How can a deposit be considered a tax? You get it back when you return the container. 🤷‍♂️

[@jonathanthink5830]

@@warrensteel9954 The return process in CA is intentionally complicated. It is not like Oregon where you could go to any grocery store, including Costco, to get your money back when you hand in your cans. In CA, you cannot find a place that will give you back $0.05 per can. You end up selling them to metal recycling stations by weight.

[@warrensteel9954]

​@jonathanthink5830 That sounds terrible. Here in BC, I can take limited numbers of deposit items to almost any store that sells them, or to any recycling center for full deposit. Lots of schools and charities also have regular fundraising drives who pick up your deposit containers for you to save you the trouble of sorting and returning.

[@gdemorest7942]

In British Colombia, Canada every single use "beverage" container has a 10 cent deposit, be it glass, metal or plastic. A "beverage" excludes drinking yogurt and butter milk i.e. any container that you buy open and drink has a 10 cent deposit (yes, even 1 gallon milk containers and those Capri Sun drink pouches!!). In parks in the down town areas people sometimes leave their beverage containers on the ground beside garbage cans so that a "freelance bottle collector" aka "biner" (as in garbage bin) does not have to rummage around in bins. The main goal is to reduce the need to landfill or incinerate. Some containers have both a 10 cent deposit that you get back and a Environmental Handling Fee (EHF) that you do not get back (this is to help pay for the added cost of dealing with plastic containers). It is not perfect, but the Global Product Stewardship Council say we have a 80% plus return rate.

[@vivigesso3756]

Leave it to liberals to literally mess things up.

[@gdemorest7942]

@@vivigesso3756 80% return rate is quite good. I'm curious, how is it "messed up" and how could it be improved?

[@88porpoise]

​@@gdemorest7942Well the Liberals are the Conservatives now so maybe they want to repeal it?

[@88porpoise]

I would add two comments: Many public trash cans in Vancouver have a small bin on the side which I assume is intended for exactly this purpose. You can also see when people put out trash it isn't uncommon for refundable containers to be put out in a separate bin for people to collect before the garbage/recycling collection occurs. That isn't necessarily to be nice so much as to not have people rooting through their recycling and making a mess but it does assist in facilitating returns even when it isn't economically worthwhile to do so.

[@SanchoPanza-wg5xf]

You say that like it's a good thing. In reality, you purposely throw the refundable containers on the ground so that the lowlife scavengers can have an easier time collecting them. Protip: that's how you attract more lowlifes to your community. You slow-brained libs are experts at encouraging dysfunction under the guise of empathy and compassion.

[@TTOS69]

I sell my own scrap. Im lucky to live around the block from the scrapers who helped with the world trade center actually! Cans, wiring, anything metal. My aunt recycles Gold and Platinum/Silver from electronics. Shes got a nice lil nugget nowadays!

[@DRJ-ytp]

There are no convenient places to recycle near me. No curbside recycling either.

[@deltaskyhawk]

In Canada we pay deposits on aluminum cans. People still toss these cans on the side of roads, etc.

[@Adityabikramnayak]

Over here the ones with aluminium cans are comparatively more pricey

[@Julia________]

Not in Ontario. Deposits are generally only on alcohol here.

[@Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer]

Aren't those collected by the homeless, and well, thrifty people in general then?

[@urbanstrencan]

Business Insider great video, keep it up with covering topics like this

[@XxXenosxX]

We need more national recycling centers

[@skyh]

Start your own recycling business.

[@zyxw2000]

We need national recycling LAWS and centers. It's different in every community.

[@rayscheff]

More states need to adopt paying if you bring back for that .05 - .10

[@bdkw1]

The big issue in the US is lack of foundries. What to do with all that recycled aluminum. The EPA has made foundries a loosing proposition which is what forced companies into shipping scrap over seas. Couple that with the unions unrealistic demands and the whole industry isn't profitable.

[@CaseNumber00]

Today we get 5 cents for a recycled can. My dad told me he also got 5 cents a can back in the 60s. Its probably more profitable to keep your cans, melt them yourself, and sell if for the scrap value for it.

[@BloodyMobile]

I've been already wondering why there's so many foundry DIY videos on YT. Now it makes sense.

[@uristmcary]

Sadly it's not, unless you are processing the melt into a product. It is pretty fun though to make your own aluminum ingots.

[@CaseNumber00]

@@uristmcary I think you just have to go to a good scrap yard or recycler to get the scrap value, not ones that only accept bottles and cans but the ones who accept most any kind of metal.

[@MoltenMetalCasting]

The scrap value is currently less than 2 cents per can. Melting the cans down yourself is not really worth it. Cans have a lot of dross and fumes due to the paint and thin material. The pull tabs on top of the can are better because they aren't painted. It is even better to melt down thicker pieces like lawn mower engine parts.

[@atomstarfireproductions8695]

Melting your own metal is almost never worth it unless it is for casting or art. Most scrapyards will only buy aluminum ingots at the dirty aluminum rate as they are unsure what alloy is contained in it unless they have the equipment to determine the alloy composition.

[@Ftoyou2]

In LA, the recycling is so impactful that even the homeless do it and recycle the copper!

[@Joe-sg9ll]

lol. exactly. people just leave it all lying around in walls and streetlights!

[@WYO_Dirtbag]

Those homeless people are so eco conscious. Good on them for getting that copper out of buildings and public infrastructure and recycling it.

[@stevenmitchell1]

​@@Joe-sg9llYes, a lot of Americans have contempt for recycling.

[@Joe-sg9ll]

@@stevenmitchell1 because it's a lie

[@davidedickjr]

@@Joe-sg9ll conservatism has been lost by Americans - in favor of license & profligacy. As much on the right as on the left.

[@FordManiac76]

I was in Washington state this summer and I couldn’t believe they didn’t have an aluminum can/pop bottle recycling program!! Here in BC Canada we have a 10 cent deposit on cans that can be redeemed!!

[@uss-dh7909]

Living in North Dakota, I always wondered why all states didn't have their initials on that 5c bottle return indicator. We used to have an aluminum recycling center in town but they closed back in 2018 or so because it was simply unprofitable. Made my last drop there about four months before they closed. Saved up again and in about six years I had filled up three 20 gallon pails with smashed aluminum cans. The families soda, and moms coke-a-cola addiction. Moved house last year and as a part of the week it took, we took those pails of cans about an hour south to the aluminum recycler in the larger metro. When all was said and done, we got about $26. It covered the cost of gas, but the time spent driving was wasted. To add insult to injury, we were friends with the garbage man that had been coming by every Wednesday for the past 17 years and wanted to say thanks and all that. Brought up the recycling trip and how we probably would have been better off just chucking the cans into our recycling bin for the recycling truck to pick up. He laughed and said those trucks dump the recycling in with the rest of the garbage. The city apparently hasn't recycled proper for almost 40 years or so he was told. Something needs to change.

[@WYO_Dirtbag]

I luckily have a metal recycling place nearby. I take my cans as well as other metal scrap there. I don't make much money on it, but it's close by. And we do not have a recycling service here either. I do just send all the plastic to the landfill.

[@CaptainKremmen]

Why doesn't every home have a recycling bin that is picked up alongside the usual waste one? There's no need for separate collection facilities at all.

[@WYO_Dirtbag]

@@CaptainKremmen I'm in the county and not municipality so I have to pay for a private solid waste company if I so choose.

[@stevenmitchell1]

​​@@CaptainKremmen Single-stream recycling is the primary reason why so much glass is broken during recycling pickups. Once it's broken or contaminated by other trash liquids or solids, it's unusable in the United States, as are plastics and cans.

[@CaptainKremmen]

@@stevenmitchell1 Yes, that's why some areas here have added a bin just for glass. So two recycling bins is definitely much better.

[@TheFabled1]

I was an avid recycler for years. Then found out so much of it just goes to the landfill anyway. Started presorting my own recyclables and taking them in and just realized it wasn't worth it. The only real solution to this is very large scale machine sorting and recycling. One day maybe 20 years from now I can see land fills being dug up and gone through by machines to sort out all the valuable metals and handle the material correctly.

[@TheSongwritingCat]

Honestly it's pretty demoralizing to pre-sort and then have to go on faith that the facilities won't just decide it's "contaminated" or "mixed" recycling because they don't want to deal with it.

[@skyh]

A lot of methane would be released causing the clymate change people to freak out and they are the ones most likely to recycle.

[@Joe-sg9ll]

it will never be worthwhile

[@WYO_Dirtbag]

We don't have city trash or recycling and have to pay a private company. After China shutdown the plastics recycling, I won't bother with recycling any plastics, put it in the landfill. But I will always save the aluminum cans and once I get many bags, I will take it to the metal recycling place that's pretty close by. I don't do it for the the few bucks. I do it because aluminum is actually truly recyclable.

[@jimshoe402]

TRUE !!!! I was shocked when I found out All BS...

[@frederiknielsen3348]

Some crucial information left out in this video - We danes have the same kind of system the germans have, in germany they call if "pfand" , and in Denmark we call it "Pant" - The incentive is that in denmark we will pay the price of a beverage, let's take coca-cola for example: a 500ml bottle of coca-cola cost us Danes about 20-25 DKK per bottle, but on top of that there is the "pant" system, in which we will be required to pay a surplus of 1 DKK per bottle, this 1 DKK will get paid back to us when we return the empty bottle to the store or recycling center, so this in turn makes it "worth" for us to return the bottle. Some people will save their bottles for the end of the month and then go to the store or recycling center to "fuel" their economy for the rest of the month :)

[@Hoggaforfan]

Poor mans bank, been there, done that :P

[@chickenschnautzen]

well, that is exactly how it works here in germany :)

[@frederiknielsen3348]

⁠Also wrote the same kind of system :P

[@knockeledup]

That was the entire point of the video. The states in the US with bottle bills have their “pant” so low at 5 or 10 cents it’s not “worth” it to Americans to bring the can back to a redemption center.

[@mehere8038]

it's still cultural though. In Australia a lot of people don't bother with the returning, same way they just throw couches & everything else they're replacing onto the footpath instead of selling second hand. I live next door to a block of 100 units & it's incredible the stuff I get just by having a quick look at what's been thrown away each time I take rubbish out. Funny think is, there are people who will collect the 10cent cans/bottles, while not bothering to touch any of the other stuff thrown away. As an example, I got a working riobi jigsaw a while back, missed the chainsaw cause another person got it a few minutes before me. He left the jigsaw cause he didn't want it personally & had no desire to waste time trying to sell it. He also asked me if I wanted his dozen or so bottles he was chucking, cause he couldn't be bothered taking them the 100 metres or so to the recycling centre (I said no, cause I also couldn't be bothered doing that for only a dollar or so). My pet birds also love all the furniture they get purely to chew on for fun. If it's natural materials, I'll take it, let my birds shred it, then return it to the rubbish & grab a new piece of furniture for them to chew. Their cage frame is made mostly from pram & walker & bike wheels & aluminium framing from the disposal site by my home, they even have suspension on their cage wheels! It's cultural

[@thothfund]

The U.S. and Canada need to increase recycling rates for things like plastic and aluminum cans.

[@RLKRAILTIES]

I live in U.S. and I was taught by my mother that I had to recycle even my grandmother told me to recycle. The only things I throw away are food, plastic bags, plastic caps, pizza boxes, some packages. I always recycle cans plastic bottles, and cardboard

[@Userhfdryjjgddf]

Hahaha recycling is a lie. It doesn't work. Ok even if all of America went entirely green. The Asian countries outpace whatever we do. Plus the greener we go we need the Asian countries to pollute more to make our stuff.

[@robingannaway8262]

Using a worm farm will reduce the amount kitchen scraps going to landfill, with the benefit of a free soil conditioner for the garden.

[@mehere8038]

@@robingannaway8262 I was going to say basically this. I have a raised garden bed for my veggies & I've been gradually building up levels in a new one for the last few years now, currently 1 bessa block high, will eventually be 2 or 3 blocks high, the entire thing is just paper, boxes & food scraps & a little sand I've bought cause otherwise the pure carbon contents get too heavy & hold water too well. My whole gardenbed is an overgrown worm farm & it's incredibly productive, even while still building it!

[@robingannaway8262]

@@mehere8038 🙂🙂🙂

[@zyxw2000]

@@robingannaway8262 Unless you're one of tens of millions of people who live in an apartment.

[@LearningSpanishwithDrL]

Great video!

[@Futralhundson]

*Amazing video, you work for 40yrs to have $1M in your retirement, meanwhile some people are putting just $10K into trading from just few months ago and now they are multimillionaires*

[@ElveyBoddie]

wow this awesome 👏 I'm 47 and have been looking for ways to be successful, please how??

[@Futralhundson]

It's Lisa Annette Robinson doing, she's changed my life.

[@stormssf8538]

@@Futralhundson hey guys

[@stormssf8538]

@@ElveyBoddie hello

[@Carlosilpso11]

I do know Ms. Lisa Annette Robinson , I also have even become successful....

[@ignc_]

Once again, humans prove they can solve problems if it's for the good cause of having wars 😂

[@moose5.9]

I work for the largest aluminum recycler in the world, Novelis, and not even mentioned!😂

[@michael-michaelmotorcycle]

Lies. The Ball plant in Goodyear, AZ produces 100% scrap on all 7 of their can lines 24/7/365 due to incompetent management. True story.

[@TheOtherBill]

They probably don't buy adspace from Business Insider.

[@moose5.9]

@TheOtherBill for sure but a quick Google search is 1% effort 🤣

[@blueoval250]

They just shut down a plant near me that I used to service equipment at.

[@moose5.9]

@blueoval250 they also just opened up 3 facilities. 1 being a 2.7B end to end facility in Alabama

[@mojaveliz]

Not all states have the bottle bill enacted. In California, we recycle all our cans and bottles to get a free bucks back. Tried doing that in Texas, can't find a recycling center to exchange the bottles.

[@zyxw2000]

In cities that don't have machines for separating materials, they shouldn't have single stream recycling, i.e. they should have separate containers. Because the federal government doesn't run recycling, as it does in Europe, there's no consistency in systems, and 1/4 of the population has no recycling at all.

[@billkraemer4710]

The government should not be in the business of recycling, their 30% skim is the biggest part of the problem.

[@zyxw2000]

@@billkraemer4710 Where's you source of information saying they take a 30% skim? And we can't keep leaving recycling to private firms that must make it profitable, with different rules in every city and county.

[@juanmcsweeney4503]

Josepha, thank you for your service.

[@ttc5000]

My neighbor has one of those old construction office trailers on his property that he literally filled with bags of aluminum cans over the course of a couple of years. He cashed them all in and got less than 50 bucks. It is barely worth the gas to recycle aluminum cans. That's not to say you shouldn't be putting them out on the curb for recycling, but they have next to no value as a recycled material.

[@mehere8038]

yup, in Australia we used to do that system back in the 70's & 80's, now we do 10cents per container for any container that is commonly littered, as an anti-littering program. Incredible the difference in profit for the collectors. I've made more on just a couple of collections from a local bin just for fun to see how the system works, than I made from years of hard work collecting as a kid

[@HobbyOrganist]

It takes 32 cans to make ONE pound, and the stores want intact cans not crushed ones, so the intact cans take up a LOT of space, plus the sticky sweet residue in them attracts ants, flies and bugs where ever you store them.

[@zippie6]

They took out our recycling bins because people were not separating the cans or bottles and tossing regular garbage which was too expensive to separate. Grocery stores have stopped taking them. It costs too much to bag up the cans and drive them to the nearest recycling place. Some places say they won't take cans if they are crushed to take up less room.

[@ahonui]

in Japan, people are required to separate trash by type and each type has different pickup day.

[@zyxw2000]

And they put their names on the bags.

[@SanchoPanza-wg5xf]

Sounds like a wonderland. Is it because the Japanese are so environmentally-inclined or because they don't have the available land to build landfills? Apparently they incinerate most of their garbage.

[@stevenmitchell1]

In Japan, unlike most Americans, they also are scrupulous about washing out their cans and bottles before putting them in the recycling. It's the difference between living in a cooperative society or a contested society like the United States.

[@michaelmurray6197]

I've been talking about this for a few years. The issue I'm seeing is that there has been a huge push on recycling cardboard and plastic, despite how both cardboard and plastic are nearly useless to recycle right now. I've talked to multiple people and it's shocking how many people I've run into that have told me that they didn't think they should be recycling aluminum and glass any longer, they stopped hearing about it and after a few years they just stopped recycling these. Ironically often these are the same people recycling mixed plastic and cardboard, and are often confused about whether they should recycle a pizza box or not. We need to move back to pre-sorting recycle. Put four bins at each household. Metal and glass bins get picked up once a month. Plastic and cardboard get picked up every other week with plastic one week and then cardboard the next week. Label the bins clearly and also make it clear that you should not have any food on any plastic or cardboard, for instance staples go into the metal bin instead of the cardboard. And then tell people that if they aren't sure what to do with something that is plastic or cardboard that they should just toss it in the trash. The other thing that needs to change is that companies need to organize to reduce the number of alloys and different plastics that are used. Recycling is complicated drastically by the different alloys in metal and also the plastic having various dyes and even plastic alloys. If we can reduce the number of mixes then we reduce how complicated recycling is for the processing companies.

[@TheSkylayne]

The casino I work at does t recycle I talked about it for years and yet in 2024 no recycling…the waste is aluminum and plastic and styrofoam is appalling 😮

[@darekradulski6213]

In Australia they pay ¢10 per aluminium can or glass bottle at recycling stations but shops charge ¢20 per same container (automatically added to product’s price)

[@erich4647]

The bottle bill at least in Iowa is no incentive. It's a waste of money and resources since it takes time an people to count and sort these cans. Local grocery stores no longer even take the returns anymore, and if you take them to a special dropoff they want you to place them in flats...which no one wants to do. we basically just throw the cans into our recycle bin, even though we lose 5 cents with each one. If we are away from home there are very few recycle bins to use, so the cans go right in the trash.

[@jillnewhouse2712]

I live in Iowa too. The Republican government is in Kahoot with the businesses that produce the cans and bottles and don't want to have to pay to recycle them. It doesn't make them any money, so why should they want to recycle them? It's so frustrating. I also live in a place that doesn't allow glass recycling through our weekly garbage pickup. Since it's all dumped together, it's too dangerous for the people who do the physical sorting. Something drastic needs to change so we don't end up like the movie WALL-E. Certainly looks like we are heading there in the US.

[@williamlloyd3769]

In California, I have to separate glass, plastic and aluminum containers but the recycling center weighs them and then gives me money by weight. Who is dumb enough to count individual containers? Sounds inefficient!

[@georgegeorgiy3516]

Here in France, we're trying not to use a single use packaging. For example, SodaSteam or buying grocery products in glass jars and return them back next time going to the same grocery store. As 10% - 15% of each purchase in grocery going straight to the bin, as value of packaging. It can be very simple, as an example: I don't purchase anything in cans at all plastic bottles.

[@giovannisynthesis]

In CA you have to pay to recycle your own cans. 😂 makes no sense. Greed and waste.

[@MANI-ee7vr]

Yes

[@p-san]

Seeing first hand the Pfand system in Germany, I think it's great. Witnessing it, all I could think about is how brilliantly Germany employs those less fortunate in city sanitation. The down side is you get random people asking if you're done with your drink fairly often

[@jez5855]

I know people that make over $100 a week collecting recycle cans/bottles at different workplaces. Its decent money.

[@zyxw2000]

You have to go through garbage to get them.

[@DiakosDelvin]

@@zyxw2000 And in nursing homes you have to wash off shit and scrub between the folds. It's work.

[@JustinTurnerman]

I give my bottles to the locals that collect them all the time. I consider it a good form of work and they do me a favor. They usually make at least 15 bucks everytime I put them out. Help the community help themselves.

[@someoneanonymous5895]

In the end, it is still all about the profits and not about renewable resources. Consumers do not want to pay a higher fee on top of their purchase. Companies do not want to pay additional fees to go towards recycling. And I am sure someone is skimping off of the funds that is supposed to be used for these services. Meaning, the funds are there, but make the incentive less lucrative as well as difficult for someone to recycle.

[@Federico84]

In italy we have 5 different bins at home. One for paper, one for glass, plastic/metal, food waste, and the last one for non recyclable stuff

[@TheDarkOne805]

In California if you pay with food stamps they don’t charge you the 7cent crv tax

[@bryce6870]

Great info !

[@noprivacyverner]

they need to bring back glas bottles the plastic liner crap from the cans are no good

[@zyxw2000]

That's not going to happen. Glass is too heavy and expensive to ship.

[@skyh]

​@@zyxw2000No buyers for used glass.

[@sitrakaforler8696]

00:06 US lags in aluminum can recycling, losing $800M yearly 01:51 Challenges in US recycling system and impact on aluminum recycling 03:34 Advanced technology enables efficient separation of aluminum alloys in the US 05:12 Hedro uses innovative technology to recycle low-quality scrap into high-quality scrap. 06:51 Hedro utilizes efficient recycling process for aluminum ingots 08:33 Aluminum can recycling generates income for individuals in states with bottle bills. 10:24 New York's outdated bottle deposit system needs updating. 11:55 US struggles with low aluminum can recycling rates

[@HobbyOrganist]

"US lags in aluminum can recycling, losing $800M yearly" Au contraire, they KEEP the 5 cents deposit people pay that dont return the can or bottle, so they make money there.

[@Suburp212]

Make it 2 dollars per used aluminum can. Instantly, problem solved.

[@wades623]

No one is going to pay over $30 for a 12 pack especially when you can't even just bring any of them back to any store. That's how it works in Michigan, they only take back what they sell. So if you have some random generic you can only bring it back to the place it came from.

[@Thetimecapsuletx]

When we lived in NYS, my autistic daughter would love picking up cans and bottles from the roadside. She would get exercise and a bit of pocket change for her work. The bottle bill is good for everyone. Now we are in Texas, and the litter and waste here is off the chain! I sure wish Texas would adopt the bottle bill.

[@ВладимирХарченко-з2т]

Up to $300/day collecting cans is way way more then I expected. Even $150/day is more than I expected. It's almost enough to survive (not in NYC, but in the state perhaps)

[@Michael89312]

dope video, really enjoyed it 👍

[@ryanmeier8994]

I'll never get why we don't do more to recycle as a nation. Most recycling in the US ends up in a landfill where in many parts of europe that's not the case. Batteries especially need to be recycled for a sustainable future where electric cars etc are dominant.

[@emre_968]

It’s America, that’s why

[@trader2137]

because its not profitable with current level of technology? dump it and recycle in future

[@WhyWorldWet]

We should be more like Germany and Brasil recyling-wise

[@erkinalp]

@@trader2137 supply chain management (which recycling is a part of) is one of the few things you can't defer to the future, along with education, health and electricity production

[@knuterthal5131]

Ive read an Article, where it says, if all Humans would live like Americans, we need 4,5x Planet Earth to sustain that. If i remember right, i think for Germany it still was 3x Earth.

[@aegisofhonor]

when you really think about it on the logistical side of things, 50% is not bad. It takes a lot of labor to get a used can recycled and not much labor to throw it away.

[@cccwue]

Here in Germany, you don't see any can or bottle lying on the ground. Maybe at festivals and concerts, but there are many collectors, since there is a 0,25€ deposit (Pfand) on each. Many homeless people collect these and get around 10-50€ each day. So it is also a type of money redistribution.

[@Vagabond_Etranger]

In the USA, we used to recycle in the 90's & early 2000's, but now stop. At one place, they just simply remove the huge recycle bin so I just stop recycling altogether.

[@stopnd]

This is better than charity. They work and make real money.

[@thedopplereffect00]

​@@Vagabond_Etrangerthat's better for the environment because "recycling" is energy intensive

[@cccwue]

@@thedopplereffect00 not as energy intensive as making new bottles and cans

[@thedopplereffect00]

@@cccwue it is. Otherwise they would pay you to recycle. Simple economics. Energy=money

[@janielunday5012]

I sold aluminum cans to my scrap yard for $0.57 a pound near Dallas, Tx this past week. It takes a while to collect the cans but they do add up. The vast majority of Texans don't recycle, so there is lots of opportunity to make some extra cash.

[@butu2005]

Aluminium cans in my sracp yard in Poland +/- 1$. In Poland, about 80/90% of the cans put into circulation are collected. And in general, we have better scrap metal prices xD

[@b1646717]

The homeless people in my city are the most reliable and widespread recycling program.

[@silentstormstudio4782]

homless yet employed

[@trader2137]

not true, they often steal from the trash bins and so lower the income for municipal trash collection companies, which then increase the costs for the customers (you).

[@WhyWorldWet]

Facts. Without the Homeless recycling, our recycling rates would likely be abismal lol

[@D0P1C3]

@@trader2137 yea sure lol if money everyone pays for garbage is not enough for them that they have to rely on "tips" aka cans then they should go bankrupt lol your and mine rate for garbage is calculated with expectation there will be no extra in it for them so we pay for full expenses + profit for company and what they make in cans bottles etc is just extra profit on top what you paid them

[@swishmaster1]

I have recycled for the last 30 years.. i have my 55 gallon barrels set up for plastics, magazine type material, cans, glass, batteries and ferrous metals. I feel its a responsibilty to yours and my land, to do the right thing in recycling and to keep the land clean. It's interesting, we watch reality shows from across the pond and you don't see the amount of trash along the roads and parking lots. There seems to be more respect for their land then we have here in the US. Its not hard, just do it.

[@some5672]

how is it more profitable to mine and process raw aluminum than to sort aluminum?

[@db1418]

Cheap labour in mining countries but expensive labour in recycle locations would no doubt be part of it.

[@aequintas2131]

@@db1418 yes australia is well known for being a low labor cost country

[@aequintas2131]

Because bauxide is pretty abundant, is mainly mined by technologicaly competend countries (australia and china do like 70%) and the ore isnt mixed with all kinds of other trash

[@erkinalp]

@@aequintas2131 it's bauxite

[@erkinalp]

@@db1418 Turkey somehow manages to be good at both, but at a significant social cost: in Turkey, dumpster diving *is a job*

[@J-berg]

It has become such a pain to return cans here in Oregon. Must PAY for green bags to put the cans in, then pay 2% of the deposit for "processing" fees. Not to mention almost all bottle drop locations are always full or not open. Lastly, it takes weeks to get your money and is a process.

[@TomAcrossAmerica]

Every single store in my city has stopped taking cans and bottles back. You can't even go back to the Safeway or 711 and get your deposit back. You have to go to the outskirts of the city to go to specific recycling place to get your deposit back. A lot of cities have incentivized people picking up cans and returning them. Not where I live. One of the most expensive cities and homeless populous cities in the country.

[@knockeledup]

I worked in a grocery store and dealt with can returns. It is DISGUSTING. People don’t fully empty the cans before bringing them back or rinse them out. There were frequently all sorts of bugs inside the cans and many times cigarette butts. When beer cans don’t get rinsed out and sit for a long time the yeast starts cooking and makes a nasty smell. Do you want all of that sitting next to where you buy your snacks? The worst offenders were the homeless people that collected cans all day because they didn’t care what condition they were returning the can in as long as they got the money.

[@mehere8038]

no stores take them anymore where I am in Australia either, but the government has set up machines & little shopfronts with automated machines in them that people can take the containers to & get their 10c per container from (in the form of a voucher that can be swapped for cash at all the stores that used to take the containers). This is the sort of thing governments are meant to do with our taxes

[@bellofbelmont]

Australia here. We get 10 cents for milk and juice cartons, glass bottles, plastic bottles and cans at an automated recycling location. Also we have garbage, green waste and recyclables at kerb side rubbish collection. Jim Bell (Australia)

[@mehere8038]

since when have milk cartons been included? They were specifically excluded & only commonly littered containers included. Flavoured milk sure, but not regular milk & juice generally drunk at home! We also have only a 70% recycling of cans rate, compared to much of Europe's 99% & above

[@charleslee3676]

It doesn't help that literal tons of plastic junk is made every day.

[@robingannaway8262]

In the pyrolysis process, waste plastics are converted into alternative energy as fuel for diesel engines.

[@Jordaboski]

One issue is that the stores that sell the canned product only take back cans they sell, and sometimes even reject cans they sell. So Its not economical to go from store to store to figure out where to return your cans back to. They need to universally receive all cans.

[@zyxw2000]

We did that one day, but luckily the 2 supermarkets were near each other. The Stop n Shop machine kept rejecting cans, so we took them next door. It was a PITA.

[@Jordaboski]

@@zyxw2000 Yeah I'm not sure why they do that. It must be something with the stores receiving something as well.

[@zyxw2000]

@@Jordaboski The laser in the recycling machine reads the bar code, and if it's a brand that store, let's say, Stop & Shop, doesn't sell, the machine rejects it. You might be right. So I've started buying all my seltzer bottles from Trader Joe's, rather than dealing with several brands. I don't use cans at all.

[@blueknight8709]

One of the main reasons is that there not alot of places that pays to recycle and not enough recycleing plants to recycle aluminum.

[@johnmartin9823]

In Alabama (USA), right now we are getting +/- $.50 cents a pound. And if I recall correctly, it takes about 32 aluminum beverage cans to make a pound. So it is a total loss of money recycling aluminum cans. There is no deposit on cans/botttles.

[@raycenteno7698]

The US is always far behind bro. Lets face we aren't number #1 as people claim to be.

[@pochenyang2121]

US is number 1 in Billionaires XD

[@trader2137]

if you continue doing unprofitable stuff like recycling then you for sure wont be #1

[@catspajamas6837]

What do you mean? The United States is the richest and most advanced third world country on the planet.

[@erkinalp]

@@trader2137 there's nothing to profit off of, once you run out of materials 👀

[@skyh]

​@@pochenyang2121And oil production for the last 7 years. We also have the best freight Railroad system in the world.

[@urmonatorgaming]

In Oregon we pay $.10 per can/bottle and get back $.12, if you use "Bottle Drop", a private company. They take a cut of each bag you turn in but you don't have to do ANY work, just throw things in a bag. Then if you turn the credit into store credit it's $.12 a bottle worth of value. So for doing zero work besides bagging your cans and bottles and turning them in you get about $.10-$.12 back for every container. It's the best process I've seen in the US so far.

[@MrBradsss]

well that is the weirdest pronunciation of Hydro I've ever heard

[@StrawberryredfiestaST]

I cant watch that video because of that it triggers me so much 😅

[@TheScytheMoron]

@@StrawberryredfiestaST "Hydor" is the old greek word for water ... which is used as a base for words in many languages ... in German for instance it is also pronounced "Huedrow". Get that aluminium (and YEAH aluminIUM ... be triggered, moron) ingot out your ass. (I mean you are not even able to adopt the metric system and yet you are "triggered" by the name of a FOREIGN company???)

[@PakChikMirol]

The same person that said "Nukilar bomb"

[@colonelspicymustard]

He said the manufacturer is Norwegian, so I imagine it’s how the Norwegians pronounce it.

[@TheOtherBill]

I take it you don't speak Norwegian?

[@heathn3595]

Here in Iowa we have a $0.05 deposit. But there's no place to redeem them at. It's more or less a $0.05 tax. The state says that grocery stores didn't have to take cans anymore so they don't.

[@garricksmalley1733]

A little more on how to change the laws restricting recycling would be appreciated.

[@hermaeusmora2945]

Your only hope is to be richer than the lobbyists.

[@markinator8826]

How sad it is that these people are looked down on!! They are what America is all about, hard work, and making a positive contribution to society!! Bless them Lord!!

[@daphnecarpenter767]

😢 I am willing too but cannot afford to recycle my own house hold items. They charge for the benn also a monthly fees. If I see a recycling in a park or something I will happily use them. The US needs to make it the thing to do not a luxury some of us cannot afford.

[@googleusergp]

We do it at work. We collect all of the cans and bottles and then when we have enough, we bring them to the redemption center for cash. Then we use the money to buy things for the kitchen that we need. Last time we did it, we got about $15 or so, which pays for things like aluminum foil, spices, and other things that are needed around the kitchen. It's like "free" money and you're also doing what's right for the planet at the same time.

[@RisenThe]

Bottle deposits work wonders. Every can, bottle, hell every PIECE OF PLASTIC ought to have a 20 cent tax that you can bring back and deceive your deposit.

[@trader2137]

and you have to waste time (working hours) taking the bottles to the shop and then staying in the queue... people used to never care about recycling and there was completely no problems in the world with it ....

[@RisenThe]

@@trader2137 What queue? All the grocery stores around me have a can return. 9 times out of 10 there is no line.

[@skyh]

You have to have a buyer that can make a profit from all the collected recyclables.China used to buy a lot of it but stopped due too much contamination.

[@trader2137]

@@RisenThe imagine on yearly basis how much time and effort you waste on it

[@RisenThe]

@@trader2137 Not as much time as your parents wasted on you.

[@kimberlymcdade961]

The Hydro plant is very interesting. Definitely need to allocate money to helping to get more of those set up in other states and training and education for people who want to go into that line of work. And they need to pay more than 5 cents for cans regardless of if it has soda or tea in it.

[@silentstormstudio4782]

Don't tell me nobody ever had a crush on me

[@BuffaloianALLDAY]

Thank you BUSINESS INSIDER! I don’t know how EVERY HUMAN DOESN’T SUBSCRIBE TO YOU!!

[@jonathannadeau6218]

Recycling is a big scam.

[@honkeykong9563]

Plastic Recycling is a Scam Aluminum Can Recycling works. Know the difference.

[@vedran5582]

Recycling is not a scam, especially in the case of metals such as aluminium - it's much cheaper to recycle it then to mine the ore and process it, due to the fact it takes 95% less energy than mining and processing virgin material. Steel, copper, other metals, and glass are recycled in a cost-effective manner as well. Wood and paper can also be reused, recycled or easily burned along other materials, for energy generation (not the cleanest option, but it's far cleaner than burning oil or coal for energy). Only thing that's a "scam" is recycling plastics, they're usually reused in different products, after shredding which exacerbates the issue with microplastics, are usually only recyclable for only a few lifecycles and virgin production from oil is dirt cheap. Plastics can be incinerated for power generation as well, however plastic burning generates horrible amounts of toxic gasses which results in high costs in cleaning/scrubbing the leftover gas/solids after burning.

[@Tal-q3r]

very true

[@NWJF]

Recycling PLASTIC is a scam. Not metal

[@drabberfrog]

Plastic recycling, and specifically bottom of the barrel plastic recycling for items like wrappers, single use food tins, and bags is the scam. Those plastic items are so cheap that virgin plastic is cheaper and therefore they are rarely actually recycled and are sent to 3rd world countries because it's cheaper. Recycling high quality ABS and PET plastic items like water bottles, milk jugs, buckets, and chairs actually is worth it because recycling them is cheaper than making virgin plastic. However, only a small percentage of plastic is actually recycled because sorting out the profitable one unprofitable plastic is so expensive that it's difficult to actually make any of it work. The idea that plastic recycling will save us from plastic's problems is the scam. Recycling metal like aluminum isn't a scam at all though. Recycling it is super cost effective compared to mining and refining it and you can recycle aluminum and infinite number of times since you're just melting and freezing it into a different shape. We should try to recycle as much scrap metal as possible because that will make metal less expensive which is good for everyone and for the environment.

[@heinzkoenig8831]

In Switzerland there is no deposite on bottles or canes, but the people recycle anyway. More than 95% of glas and pet bottles and alu canes are recycled. Paying deposit only generates more administrativ costs.

[@Khalrua]

Once I heard there’s tech to process metal alloy by alloy, I did an audible “yes!” And fist bump. Just cool technology 😂

[@BradWarren]

In Canada it’s been 5 cents return for a soda and 10 for beer since I was a kid 40 yrs ago. It baffles me why this hasn't doubled or tripled.

[@Tobi4775OP]

In Denmark we had recycle deposits since 1942 on beer and soda, in 2002 we turned to plastic bottles and cans. Proud to be Danish in that regards!

[@bryangill7736]

In many places in the US, you have to pay extra for recycling either to be picked up or haul it very far to a distant recycling place

[@frederickdvorak6502]

You don't need to pay people to recycle. You need them to have a conscience and not a society with a throw-away attitude.

[@massimookissed1023]

Here in Ireland 🇮🇪 we've had a deposit scheme for cans and plastic bottles going for 1 year now. 25¢ for bottles and 15¢ for cans. It's enough of an incentive for alcoholics to pick up littered containers to make enough for their next beer.