The recycling scam laid bare in California’s
leftist heartland
American Thinker,
by
Andrea Widburg
Original Article
Posted By: DVC,
6/28/2025 11:48:00 AM
Our South Carolina neighborhood has green cans for garbage and blue cans for recycling. All our neighbors dutifully separate their garbage. We don’t, and we don’t for a very specific reason. What I discovered a couple of years ago is that, while different trucks drive around collecting blue and green cans on garbage day, at the end of the shift, the trucks dump all the garbage into the same landfill. It’s a scam that, according to my local representative, makes people feel good about themselves.
When I lived in Marin County, California, we also had to separate our garbage. That wasn’t surprising, though
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
smak90 6/28/2025 11:55:37 AM (No. 1970439)
In my neighborhood, the truck comes and picks up all the recycling cans, then a couple hours later the same truck comes and picks up all the trash. They get to spend twice as much on fuel but all the lemmings can feel good about themselves for recycling and doing their part
48 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
earlybird 6/28/2025 12:04:11 PM (No. 1970449)
As I understand it China no longer buys our recycled plastics. . In some CA cities the separation.greeb can/blue can nonsense still exists. But where condos use dumpsters that serve multiple units all bets are off. Everything goes into the dumpster. Supposedly it is sorted later. Wanna bet?
47 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
billa57 6/28/2025 12:11:19 PM (No. 1970451)
Another democrat scam costing the US billions of dollars. Its almost as if they are trying to bankrupt this country. A country of government dependent voters is a democrat dream come true.
41 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Rivetjoint 6/28/2025 12:33:03 PM (No. 1970464)
My FIL's goofy second wife just loved to follow rules, particularly the local recycling directives which called for label removal and rinsing of bottles. Efforts by the family to point out that used water bottles didn't need rinsing were quite ignored.
33 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Gallo3 6/28/2025 12:38:11 PM (No. 1970465)
I have some experience with recycling having served on municipal and county level recycling committees:
Rule #1: Recycling does not pay. Recycling costs-lots.
The only item that is usable at all is aluminum cans. and that still costs lots.
All other streams are not viable, and cost much.
The smug value of virtue signalling is absolutely a scam.
58 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
paral04 6/28/2025 12:38:49 PM (No. 1970466)
Sounds like a make work effort for the workers. But, at least someone benefitted from this scam.
14 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
jalo1951 6/28/2025 1:00:14 PM (No. 1970469)
Anybody else tired of all the lying the government elites spew at us neanderthals? I've heard that aluminum and paper are the only items that are worth our time to recycle. My son recycles my boxes for us (the only paper I do recycle) and that's it. For whatever reason it is not a big deal where I live. No colored trash cans or special pickup trucks. When it costs more to prepare the garbage for pickup, then sort and separate, pickup and deposit to a different facility all before the recycling progress even starts it is not cost effective. It's the same sort of scam the climate crazies use.
27 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Birddog 6/28/2025 1:16:43 PM (No. 1970475)
Garbage is a YUUUUUGE business, and there are really only about three companies nationwide in it...funny ian't it, the names keep changing on the ownership documents as they keep getting caught buying off Govt employees and elected officials, as well as organized crime involvement.Marin USED to have one of the nations first and most complete, efficient, recycling programs, including a heard of pigs to eat the food wastes. But the amounts incoming outgrew the facilities, and property prices are so outrageous that local locations were fiscally impossible.(I previously lived in Larkspur, Sausalito, and Tiburon)
15 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Midwest Mom 6/28/2025 1:21:06 PM (No. 1970478)
They started recycling here where we live last year and charged $2 a month of the regular garbage bill. It was optional then and we opted out. We refuse to recycle especially to pay.
17 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Timber Queen 6/28/2025 1:30:37 PM (No. 1970482)
Here on our northern California homestead we don't have trash pick-up. We take all our stuff to the "Reclamation Center" down in town. On our last trip, everything had changed. The separate shipping bins for glass, plastic, and paper were gone. Instead we were directed to the old yard-waste barn; one side had a huge pile of trash, the other side a pile of all "recyclables" together. While unloading our truck and throwing stuff on the "appropriate" pile, we had to dodge other people with their stuff and skip-loaders filling up the garbage trucks...from both piles! Gone were the bins for electronics, and we saw no place for large household appliances. We sold our aluminum cans, but didn't seem to get as much as usual...and the gate fee was raised from $8 to $12.
I still separate the glass, plastic and paper/card board into different boxes to keep the storage shed neat. But, the Lord only knows what awaits us on our next trip to "recycle" here in hypocrite-run California.
22 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
edgar 6/28/2025 1:40:02 PM (No. 1970485)
Our trash collector instructs us to put garbage in plastic bags and leave recyclables loose in the can. When it all gets loaded in the truck and compressed, there is no difference between what was in the bags and what was loose. It is all mixed and marinating in the same juice. Why lie about it? The funny thing was when they left a pizza box in my garbage can. You know, those are not recyclable. LOL
16 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
kono 6/28/2025 2:18:30 PM (No. 1970493)
I had also been told what #2 reported. The hope, ostensibly, is that the recycling materials market will eventually return to viability, making separation of waste types relevant again. And to keep us in the separation habit, the municipalities are continuing the collection ruse, rather than having to retrain us all over again..
I doubt the market will return in my lifetime; but I'm willing to continue separating my own stuff.
10 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
anniebc 6/28/2025 2:28:13 PM (No. 1970497)
I stopped trash recycling decades ago when I found out it was a scam. I hated that obligated feeling too. I gave my neighbors the recycle bin so I didn't have to store it. I recycle certain boxes into my soil for no dig gardening, etc. I also recycle milk bottles back to Earth Fare; it's so worth the $2+ dollar credit.
9 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
mariboo72 6/28/2025 2:45:21 PM (No. 1970504)
I'm not a crazy environmentalist, but I do care about the environment and I recycled for many years, washing containers and removing labels. I quit recycling years ago when I found out our server only recycles brown corrugated cardboard. The rest goes in the landfill. I wish it wasn't so, but I know that there is a huge expense involved. Most of our neighbors continue to put out their bins full of glass, plastic, cans, colored cardboard.
9 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 6/28/2025 3:00:49 PM (No. 1970507)
I have better things to do than sort trash. All of ours goes in the compactor and then in the can.
14 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
sunset 6/28/2025 3:00:59 PM (No. 1970508)
The referenced Penn & Teller video is viewed here:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ztdlb
9 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
davew 6/28/2025 3:11:11 PM (No. 1970512)
The claim that garbage from Tiburon’s black, blue, and green bins all gets dumped into the same landfill is not accurate, according to official sources and waste management practices.
A recent video showed a Tiburon refuse collector emptying sorted trash, recycling, and compost bins into a single truck, which sparked public concern and skepticism. However, Mill Valley Refuse Service, the contractor for Tiburon, stated this was an "isolated incident" caused by a single employee who did not follow proper procedures. The company clarified that this was not standard practice and that the employee has since been retrained. The official explanation was that the driver was only supposed to collect landfill trash that day and mistakenly collected all waste streams together, possibly due to contamination concerns in the bin
7 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 6/28/2025 3:18:04 PM (No. 1970514)
Maybe two decades ago on a KOA radio talk show, a caller said he worked or formerly worked at the Denver landfill. He said the landfill accepted deliveries of semi-truck loads of plastic water bottles for “storage.” The pretense was the bottles would be picked up upon availability at a recycle plant. The caller said the bottles were never picked up.
15 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
mc squared 6/28/2025 3:26:13 PM (No. 1970518)
Like climate change, recycling resonates with ignorant people, but fortunes are made with them.
17 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
downnout 6/28/2025 3:26:35 PM (No. 1970519)
Quite by accident I discovered the same thing when we lived in Pennsylvania. Idiots.
10 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
mc squared 6/28/2025 3:32:30 PM (No. 1970521)
Thanks #16. Highly recommended.
7 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 6/28/2025 4:03:19 PM (No. 1970524)
#16
That's just a portion of it. The whole episode is 30 minutes. Well worth searching out.
7 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 6/28/2025 4:15:34 PM (No. 1970526)
We are at Mount Rushmore/Wind Cave Natl Park/Jewell Cave NM/ Badlands Natl Park. I notice most people pay no attention to the trash collection bin labelling. Waste is disguarded into whichever bin is opened first.
12 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
Venturer 6/28/2025 4:16:02 PM (No. 1970528)
It's cheaper to use new plastic than to use recycled.
Recycling is as BS as Covid was.
21 people like this.
As #8 points out, trash collection is big business - the owner of our local disposal company lives in one of the nicest spreads in the community. Composting is his latest push, and we're now asked to throw food scraps into the green bin along with all the lawn trimmings. I went to the transfer station once to have a look at all the free mulch available, but mixed in with this giant pile of mulch was a piece of garden hose, plastic bags, various pieces of small trash, and that's just what was visible. Echh.
9 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/28/2025 6:02:16 PM (No. 1970555)
By making separate rounds with trucks, trash collection companies double their collection costs and make all customers pay for it although there are far fewer people who recycle. As a bonus, you are awakened by the backup beepers at 6:00 am two days a week instead of one.
10 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
mossley 6/28/2025 6:50:50 PM (No. 1970568)
My local county admitted that all the trash ends up in the landfill decades ago. It cost too much to recycle, so it all got buried. But all the towns still require people to pay a recycling fee and separate their trash. My kitchen scraps went to the compost bin, paper goods went into the wood stove or burn barrel, and I never lost a minutes sleep over any of the rest.
13 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
snakeoil 6/28/2025 11:33:33 PM (No. 1970638)
#10. Admit I feel bad about throwing used batteries in with the general trash. But, I just don't have the time to sort. Our sanitation trucks make 2 trips. One for yard waste and the second for household trash.
4 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
SweetPea3 6/29/2025 4:17:51 AM (No. 1970678)
Re: saving the planet here in SWFL, they carp about saving water . But they also require washing all cans, bottles and containers before putting them in your "recycling" bin.
OK, kiddies, which is it?
17 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
udanja99 6/29/2025 7:01:31 AM (No. 1970700)
Sending around two trucks in every town in the US burns twice the amount of fossil fuels needed to collect our trash. What’s the carbon footprint of the trash industry, Greenies?
11 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
petrichor 6/29/2025 8:00:52 AM (No. 1970718)
I think cardboard is the only thing that can be recycled in an economically viable manner. Then again, I may be wrong.
4 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 6/29/2025 8:44:23 AM (No. 1970727)
Meanwhile, back at home, we now have five trash trucks racing through our neighborhood at 8am on Monday and Tuesday. Two are separate companies who pick up regular trash. Then three more garbage trucks for recycle - separate trucks for glass, plastic, and cardboard/paper. And if you choose the recycle route, this means you have to keep four separate trash bins in your garage instead of just one.
It's just the two of us in our household. It would take a month for the recycle bins to get full enough to justify putting them on the curb for pickup. Now somebody explain to me how this reduces the carbon footprint.
8 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
Redbone 6/29/2025 8:48:28 AM (No. 1970729)
My rule of recycling: If a junk yard will pay you for it, it can be recycled.
The yard pays quite well for copper. It will also pay somewhat well for aluminum, and modestly for corrugated cardboard that is in good shape and not exposed to water. Everything else goes in the trash.
6 people like this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
Zigrid 6/29/2025 10:14:38 AM (No. 1970762)
This falls into the "I don't care" file...I've never recycled and never will...it's a con...here's what I think...sorting cans...and plastic...some...can be reused and so...citizens are working for these companies with no pay for their efforts....and the companies walk away free....it's really quite clever...the folks feel better about themselves...and the democrats have another form of making you feel like a bad citizen if you don't comply...
6 people like this.
Reply 35 - Posted by:
janjan 6/29/2025 10:34:09 AM (No. 1970772)
My trash company tries this too. Two separate days and they get to charge more. Bless the little hearts of the fools who fall for this. I don’t drink soda or beer but the recyclable cans I do have go into the trash with everything else. I do this because I can.
6 people like this.
Reply 36 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 6/29/2025 12:32:42 PM (No. 1970827)
We caught the fraud in our small north Texas dominion not that long ago, as our one time “Recycler” was caught driving their “green can only” trucks to the local landfill for emptying, next to the regular trash trucks. The mask had slipped! All this process is akin to the extraneous moves of the magician, which are merely a distraction from the true deception at hand. In other words, this is but another tax on gullible do-gooders.
4 people like this.
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Proof that 'recycling' is a scam, even in Crazyfornia.