83 replies to this topic

[UncleVinny]

Just got my new carts last week.
Wow, fun!
All the green trash already filled the old black giant.

Best part is that prisoners are no longer going through my trashed mail!

[aztransplant]

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

Well, the handout we received says that "paper or plastic cups" are "non-recyclable household garbage" to be thrown away in the gray garbage cart. Paper towels and paper plates are NOT to be thrown in the recycling bin either. Goofy.

Let us know what you find out . . .

[aztransplant]

Well, the handout we received says that "paper or plastic cups" are "non-recyclable household garbage" to be thrown away in the gray garbage cart. Paper towels and paper plates are NOT to be thrown in the recycling bin either. Goofy.

Let us know what you find out . . .

Oops! Sorry, F500 . . . just read the post on your findings. Thanks for filling us in. By the way, to add to the goofiness, in yet another section of the pamphlet, under Tips and Information, it says that "Recyclable plastics include bottles with screw-on lids. Place all other plastics in your gray garbage cart."

I'm hoping to get the hang of this pretty soon, 'cause it's kinda awkward sorting through our garbage while consulting this pamphlet for the do's and dont's. Sigh . . .

[MSgt]

Folsom500
That info (not about recycling - just about the $$) needs to make it's way to the paper.
I wonder if the Bee would be interested. I don't know if the Telegraph would print it. Are the recycling programs in the other cities (Fair Oaks, Carmichael etc...) the same? Is the whole recycling thing (all cities) about making $$ and not about recycling at all? Looks like I may be the niave one. If so, maybe we should all turn in our recycling bins. Sounds like a great idea for an investigative reporter.
Thanks for the info. Good Job!

[K Rat]

  Goofy.

You bet it's goofy...that's why everything of mine is going in the big grey cart...sorry all you well-intentioned libs, but this is just another one of your "genius ideas" that's gonna fail...

[folsom500]

Oops! Sorry, F500 . . . just read the post on your findings. Thanks for filling us in. By the way, to add to the goofiness, in yet another section of the pamphlet, under Tips and Information, it says that "Recyclable plastics include bottles with screw-on lids. Place all other plastics in your gray garbage cart."

I'm hoping to get the hang of this pretty soon, 'cause it's kinda awkward sorting through our garbage while consulting this pamphlet for the do's and dont's. Sigh . . .

This is from the Folsom Smart whatever FAQ on their web site. :

http://www.folsom.ca...rtCart_FAQ2.pdf

6. What materials are accepted in my BLUE “commingled” recycling cart?

Paper
Acceptable Paper: mixed paper, white and colored paper, newspaper and all inserts,
magazines and catalogs, cereal boxes, cardboard, phone books, envelopes (w/windows
OK), brown paper bags, egg cartons
Unacceptable Paper: wax paper, wet or food soiled paper, fast food packaging, pizza
boxes, etc.

Glass
Acceptable Glass: glass jars and bottles. (labels are OK)
Unacceptable Glass: window panes, mirrors, light bulbs, ceramics, drinking glasses,
coffee mugs, etc.

Plastics
Acceptable Plastics: plastic bottles and TUBS #1 - #7 including milk jugs, soda, water and
shampoo bottles, etc.
Unacceptable Plastics: toys, plastic pots and buckets, plastic bags and film plastics,
bubble wrap, hoses, plastic utensils, straws, candy wrappers, pet food bags, etc.

Metals
Acceptable Metals: aluminum cans, tin cans and bi-metal cans, aerosol cans
Unacceptable Metals: car parts, keys, hangers, propane tanks, empty paint cans,
aluminum foil, foil pans, etc.
Other unacceptable materials in the BLUE can: styrofoam, kitty litter, garden hoses, milk
cartons, ice cream cartons, food waste, household hazardous waste, aseptic packaging

Not quite the same as the handout and not the same as Rick said...

Cheers
F500

[tessieca]

Don't stress so much. Do it your way without worrying about perfectly following the rules. You think they're going to bring it back to you if you put a paper cup in and they thought it was wet??

[beachbum]

Sorry for the late reply, but thanks for checking with the city. I continue to put my yogurt, sourcream, etc containers in there. It's hard to actually recycle less than before we had the blue carts!

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

[beachbum]

Sorry to be so curious about this, but just how are they going to check up on people that don't recycle? In my neighborhood I see many people who aren't even putting out the blue can, and I see grey (regular waste) cans filled to the brim (which to me would mean no recycling).

The truck drives by and dumps the stuff into the truck without any human intervention. How do they know when it all gets back where it came from?

[folsom500]

Sorry to be so curious about this, but just how are they going to check up on people that don't recycle?  In my neighborhood I see many people who aren't even putting out the blue can, and I see grey (regular waste) cans filled to the brim (which to me would mean no recycling). 

The truck drives by and dumps the stuff into the truck without any human intervention.  How do they know when it all gets back where it came from?

The City cant Make you recycle. It is all voluntary.

I suppose if their tonnage percetage of recycle does not meet the State levels, the city might try some incentives- but other than that they cannot do anything to force it.

Cheers
F500

[nhardy]

Geez!! Just recycle. It's really not that difficult. You have the bins, so do it and stop complaining

[Farley]

Over the past weeks with the new carts we have found that we fill the recycle cart, we fill both our green waste carts, but we have very little garbage anymore and have yet to fill the garbage cart or even come close to filling it.

[tessieca]

We don't fill the regular garbage can either. One neighbor is still using the black (green waste) can for their entire garbage. They don't seem to understand when it isn't picked up every week.

[bordercolliefan]

I am really happy with the new recycling program. We fill our recycle can about 2/3 full, and our garbage about 2/3 full.

I feel good about recycling so much stuff. Most of it is paper -- newspapers and the endless papers the kids bring home from school.

[folsom500]

Geez!! Just recycle. It's really not that difficult. You have the bins, so do it and stop complaining 

Who's complaining ? Just stating the facts
See Farley's post - we would put more valid recycle items in if they let us...


Cheers
F500