83 replies to this topic

[folsom500]

Ok- have an inquiry -
First - who can I contact with the city to find the answers.

Here we go-
According to the handout - we are not allowed to put 'plastic' bags or wrappers in our recycle....
But when I look at such things as wrappers for salads and other food stuff they are very clear that they are using the #1 to # 7 recycle codes that the City ALLOWS for other plastic containers....

I see this as a waste of potential recycle material ..,.

Who do I contact and WHY can't I throw these in my recycle... ????

Cheers
F500

[beachbum]

I agree completely. There are lots of plastic items that the new recycling program will not allow. My garbage can is now filling up faster than my recycle can, which is very unusual. I really dislike throwing away plastic that is recyclable.

Also, we still have our green waste can, so we no longer have any black cans.

[nhardy]

Holy Smokes! We got our carts today and it's ridiculous!!!! What am I gonna do with THREE carts?!?!

This is an outrage. Folsom is gonna look like Harlem with all the trash cans....

[john]

I say if it looks recyclable, put it in the recycle container anyway. Let the city make the judgement call. It's not like a recycle cop is going to inspect it before it gets dumped in to the truck.

Terry's response in 3, 2, 1...

[aztransplant]

Why no plastic cups when the Circle K/7-11 type cups have recycle symbols on the bottom? It feels wrong to throw these in the "regular" garbage can . . .

I'm used to being able to put in the recycle bin anything paper and anything with a recycle symbol; everything else in the "regular" garbage can. This is going to take some getting used to!

[K Rat]

Holy Smokes!  What am I gonna do with THREE carts?!?!

1. Upgrade to the large grey cart.

2. Have the city pick-up the other 2 carts.

3. Throw everthing in the grey cart.

Problem solved...

[matt]

1. Upgrade to the large grey cart.

2. Have the city pick-up the other 2 carts.

3. Throw everthing in the grey cart.

Problem solved...

There is another earlier post that also says you are allowed to refuse the new refuse cans and keep the old black can. You still pay for the new carts, but you don't have to "deal with" them.

Is anyone sure that you can either keep the old black cart or just use the one new grey cart? Where does it say that?

[K Rat]

There is another earlier post that also says you are allowed to refuse the new refuse cans and keep the old black can.  You still pay for the new carts, but you don't have to "deal with" them.

Is anyone sure that you can either keep the old black cart or just use the one new grey cart?  Where does it say that?

Now THAT I don't know for sure...I assume I'll get a new big grey cart and they'll haul-away my big, old, dirty black cart...

[folsom500]

Why no plastic cups when the Circle K/7-11 type cups have recycle symbols on the bottom? It feels wrong to throw these in the "regular" garbage can . . .

I'm used to being able to put in the recycle bin anything paper and anything with a recycle symbol; everything else in the "regular" garbage can. This is going to take some getting used to!

Sure the plastic cups you mention are OK-
I have a call into the city now to clarify the other group 1-7 types of items.
Will post when I find out.

Cheers
F500

[folsom500]

I have not seen any green cans.  The two green waste cans we have are the old black ones with a stick-on label that reads "green waste."  All the black cans in our area got the same label on the former black cans.

I saw a pickup truck on my way to work this morning that was filled with NEW Green Large Folsom bins. Guess they are also using green ones for green stuff.

Cheers
F500

[folsom500]

Sure the plastic  cups you mention are OK- 
I have a call into the city now to clarify the other group 1-7 types of items. 
Will post when I find out.

Cheers
F500

OK- heres the poop straight from the man in charge of the Not so SMART Recycling program- Rick Shaw 355 8394.
I talked to him today and here is a synopsis of the results.

1. The Main reason the use of Folsom Prison was shut down as it was costing the City too much. The city had to pay for its own guards, staff and prisoner wages including meals among other things.

2. Another reason was that the building in the prison was too small for the growing size of Folsom.

3. When the prisoners were sorting - they sorted all groups of recycles and even cleaned them and the City-(Rick)- was able to do his own marketing of the materials and this allowed him multiple outlets for the sale of the recycle materials.

4. Now- the City is not doing the marketing and had only 1 Bid locally to handle the materials. The trucks drive a 40 mile round trip from their routes to drop off the materials. The City cant go further due to the cost as they do not have their own Staging location.

5. This Sole recycler only accepts a very narrow group of plastics as it is based on what they are set up for and what they make the most money on.
Jack says part of the issue is food contamination ( but we know that not to be true for many of the items they COULD be accepting but dont )

6. Rick doesnt have a high opinion of the MyFolsom forum....

7. I explained that plastic TUBS were allowed per the Cities Smartcart FAQ2 PDF document and he said was likely a typo- he doesnt like the cottage cheese, yogurt or butter containers going in the blue can....
But later in the conversation, he said that they were negotiating to get these allowed.
( as far as I am concerned they are still allowed until the rules change on the FAQ.)

8. He also said that the handout should have been clearer and only allow containers with pop off or screw top lids... ( OH MY )

9. He did say the processor would likely take everything in and sort and DUMP the unapproved items if they were included.

So the bottom line as far as the city Guru says, - for platics- only a few things qualify... and only what makes sense for a financial return....

So it is not about recycling- it is about making money.... and this is partly due to the cities insistance on keeping its OWN solid waste pickup and not outsourcing it.

Surely BFI does not have the same restrictions as they have their own staging and can set up long haul trucks to sent product to different processors..

I dont agree with it ,but thems the facts mostly from the horses mouth...

Cheers
F500

[kanda]

6. Jack doesnt have a high opinion of the MyFolsom forum....

The feeling's mutual.

So it is not about recycling- it is about making money.... and this is partly due to the cities insistance on keeping its OWN solid waste pickup and not outsourcing it. 

You nailed it. But I'm afraid it's the citizens of Folsom who are going to get nailed next year to pay for this. Especially if (or IMO when) the city doesn't meet the 50% diversion rate, and we are fined $10,000 per day.

I wonder if that includes weekends, or just weekdays?

[forumreader]

Thanks for the info, Folsom500.

I don't have my three cans yet, so I'm not sure how our family will fill up these carts. We'll have to give it a try.

We don't have newspapers. We bring our old magazines to the public library. We try to limit our processed foods, so we have few canned, bottled containers. Rarely do we have CRV bottles.......Since the City doesn't want misc. plastics with the recycle symbol on them, I don't think I will have much to put into the recycle container.-- Maybe some small quantities of paper from my shredder(?)

I wonder if we can just do with a standard trash can and a green waste can.

[tessieca]

6. Rick doesnt have a high opinion of the MyFolsom forum....

But, he pays attention to us, doesn't he? Otherwise he wouldn't know enough about us to dislike us!