Sheets/Slabs/Toploaders - Can Any Be Recycled?

[toppcat]

Sifting through the detritus of my typical post National organizing, I am aware I am jettisoning a LOT of plastic. We're trying to reduce our overall household plastic waste and a good chunk of it comes from me with my hobby stuff. Is any of this stuff recyclable?

At a guess I would say no to slabs and rigid top loaders. I'm not so sure about softer items like Card Savers and sheets. Anyone know?

[frankbmd]

I really have no idea, but my wife puts almost everything in our recycling trash and lets Waste Management deal with it. I’ve heard that WM sells plastic garbage to China for reprocessing, but I’ve also heard that China may not continue to do this. What WM does with it if that happens is the unknown.

Maybe I’ll learn more when my wife puts me in the recycling can.

[Jobu]

Not so sure about the recycling bin Frank, but didn't you find it odd when she asked your height before ordering the new compost bin?? I hear you grow great tomatoes.

Originally Posted by frankbmd

I really have no idea, but my wife puts almost everything in our recycling trash and lets Waste Management deal with it. I’ve heard that WM sells plastic garbage to China for reprocessing, but I’ve also heard that China may not continue to do this. What WM does with it if that happens is the unknown.

Maybe I’ll learn more when my wife puts me in the recycling can.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Jobu

Not so sure about the recycling bin Frank, but didn't you find it odd when she asked your height before ordering the new compost bin?? I hear you grow great tomatoes.

Man, no kidding! Imagine Frank's value as fertilizer!

[wondo]

None of the items in questions are household collection recyclables. There is no PET (1'2) in the product and the more rigid, the less it is available for recycling. "Wishcycling" is costing the haulers and processors so much money that the communities they service are starting to opt out of curbside reclining. I have been in the industry for over 30 years - please PM me for more information. Throw that stuff in the garbage because that is what it is! And, don't listen to that bunk about filling up landfills. The US has a huge glut of landfill capacity. Of course, we do not want to generate unwanted waste that goes into a landfill, but Armageddon is not approaching.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by wondo

None of the items in questions are household collection recyclables. There is no PET (1'2) in the product and the more rigid, the less it is available for recycling. "Wishcycling" is costing the haulers and processors so much money that the communities they service are starting to opt out of curbside reclining. I have been in the industry for over 30 years - please PM me for more information. Throw that stuff in the garbage because that is what it is! And, don't listen to that bunk about filling up landfills. The US has a huge glut of landfill capacity. Of course, we do not want to generate unwanted waste that goes into a landfill, but Armageddon is not approaching.

I know it’s a spellcheck created error, John, but when the WM team is reclining on my curb, I file a complaint.

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Maybe I’ll learn more when my wife puts me in the recycling can.

LOL!

This is a good thread.

In Toronto, we can put the plastic top-loaders, plastic soft sleeves and plastic binder pages in the blue recycling bins.

However, you can't put hard plastic in the blue bins (PSA, SGC, Beckett cracked slabs, heavy screwdowns, etc.) I actually have a lot of these sitting in my storage and I just don't want to throw them in the trash. I just don't know what to do with them! Any ideas?

[Throttlesteer]

Combining ideas from another post. Overview of a business plan for a new TPG, including recycling old slabs:

1. Create a system that rates attributes of a card individually, but without summarizing to a numeric value (similar to diamond grading)
2. Grading would note size/severity and location of imperfections
3. All graded cards would be accessible to view online per cert number and would include images of the whole card. Additionally, magnified images of corners and any identified imperfections relevant to the grading
4. Slabs would be made of partially recycled plastic
5. New submissions would get a discount on grading fees if including old slabs from other TPGs
6. Submissions would be limited to pre-1980 cards

So, that's what I would do with old slabs etc...

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

LOL!

This is a good thread.

In Toronto, we can put the plastic top-loaders, plastic soft sleeves and plastic binder pages in the blue recycling bins.

However, you can't put hard plastic in the blue bins (PSA, SGC, Beckett cracked slabs, heavy screwdowns, etc.) I actually have a lot of these sitting in my storage and I just don't want to throw them in the trash. I just don't know what to do with them! Any ideas?

Are you selling or giving them away? As long as the slab are just opened and not chunks missing I would like them. I like to put custom cards with custom flips in them.

We used to have a city recycling system. Garbage in one container and recyclebales in the other. They picked them up desperately. Them they mixed them together and shipped it all to a landfill in North Dakota. LOL

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Are you selling or giving them away? As long as the slab are just opened and not chunks missing I would like them. I like to put custom cards with custom flips in them.

We used to have a city recycling system. Garbage in one container and recyclebales in the other. They picked them up desperately. Them they mixed them together and shipped it all to a landfill in North Dakota. LOL

South Dakota - Home of the Desperate Garbage Men

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

South Dakota - Home of the Desperate Garbage Men

I am camping out in the middle of nowhere so my phone auto corrected separately.

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Are you selling or giving them away? As long as the slab are just opened and not chunks missing I would like them. I like to put custom cards with custom flips in them.

We used to have a city recycling system. Garbage in one container and recyclebales in the other. They picked them up desperately. Them they mixed them together and shipped it all to a landfill in North Dakota. LOL

Most of them have a small chunk missing on one corner (I used plier to break it off). I do maybe have a few nice ones though. Tell you what, I can ship them all to you for free. All you have to do is pay for the postage. PM me if you are interested.

And that's horrible that they mixed recyclables with garbage and shipped them all to a landfill! Bunch of b*stards!

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

I really have no idea, but my wife puts almost everything in our recycling trash and lets Waste Management deal with it. I’ve heard that WM sells plastic garbage to China for reprocessing, but I’ve also heard that China may not continue to do this. What WM does with it if that happens is the unknown.

Maybe I’ll learn more when my wife puts me in the recycling can.

So, the recycling market is crap right now and they are charging me to bring my clients recyclables at the main facility. There is ZERO $$$ in it these days. It is mostly being shipped to Vietnam as China is no longer an option.

That said, the general rule of thumb is the more rigid the plastic, the better.
Put it in the recycling can and let WM sort it out is a excellent suggestion Frank

[Leon]

We recycle as much as we can but it is a crap shoot too. I have heard that if you can put your finger through the plastic, around here, it is not recyclable. I have heard other things too but not sure what is true and what isn't. I throw almost all of my old plastic holders into the recycle and will let them figure it out. They look recyclable to me!!

Originally Posted by Fuddjcal

So, the recycling market is crap right now and they are charging me to bring my clients recyclables at the main facility. There is ZERO $$$ in it these days. It is mostly being shipped to Vietnam as China is no longer an option.

That said, the general rule of thumb is the more rigid the plastic, the better.
Put it in the recycling can and let WM sort it out is a excellent suggestion Frank

[1880nonsports]

counter productive to put things they won't recycle with things they do. Requires extra sorting and disposal and is therefore less economical. As a quick aside - when living in Brooklyn in the 70's-90's we would bring bags and boxes of recycling when visiting friends upstate. On the third visit they asked us to stop as Monticello and White Lake had enough crap of their own.