Recyclables that are put in the incorrect bin, or contaminated by filthy food containers, are a common cause of contamination in recycling bins. Large amounts of recyclable material may be rendered unusable due to contamination. Some facilities can’t process certain materials.

Plastic straws & bags, as well as other commonly used utensils like yogurt containers and takeout cartons, cannot always be recycled. They are typically disposed of in one of three ways: burned, dumped in landfills, or dumped into the sea. Even though waste-to-energy plants are occasionally utilized to generate energy, they have been linked to harmful emissions in the past.

US Waste Management Issues

Many dangerous pollutants, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are released into the atmosphere when garbage is deposited in landfills. As a result, our oceans are clogged with plastic debris.

The Chinese Government Has Banned The Disposal Of Plastic Waste

Because its industrial sector was flourishing and in need of those materials to feed it, China has been responsible for recycling over half of the world’s discarded materials for decades. Plastic, paper, and metals were exported to China by the United States in 2016.

30% of these combined recyclables were polluted with non-recyclable material, never recycled, and ended up harming China’s countryside and oceans, in reality. Every year, between 1.3 million and 1.5 million metric tonnes of plastic make their way into the water off the coast of China.

According to the new stricter purity criteria set by China’s National Sword policy, most plastics, as well as other materials, could not be imported into the country in 2018.

In 2018, the United States shipped 68,000 containers of plastic waste to Vietnam, Malaysia, & Thailand. However, when countries like China, India, and the European Union began imposing import limits on plastic garbage, the United States began diverting its waste to low-cost labor countries like Cambodia and Senegal.

Despite this, the United States continues to export nearly 1 million metric tonnes of plastic garbage each year, frequently to countries that are already overburdened. According to junk disposal experts at Syracuse Dumpster Rental HQ, many plastic bottles destined for recycling in other countries are deemed unsuitable and wind up in landfills.

Junk Disposal Improvements

According to a recent dumpster rental study, the plastic garbage sent to Southeast Asia results in contaminated water and crop mortality, as well as respiratory ailments owing to toxic gases from incineration and organized crime.

A Lack Of A Dumpster Rental Marketplace

U.S. recycling was thrown into chaos even without the Chinese market of plastic and other recyclable materials.

“The economics are tough,” said Nilda Mesa, head of the Earth Institute’s Centre for Environmental Urban Development’s Urban Sustainability & Equity Planning Program. For these facilities and towns to repay their collecting and transportation costs, they must sell the recycled materials. However, it only covers a small percentage of the overall costs if there are no markets for recycled material.

Processors and municipalities in the United States have thus been forced to choose between paying more of it to recycle and simply discarding waste. After making $95,000 selling recyclables, the city of Stamford, CT would have to pay $700,000 for their removal in 2018.

After 2018, Bakersfield, CA would have to spend $25 a tonne to dispose of its recyclables, which had previously earned the city $65 a tonne. Previously, Franklin, New Hampshire, could sell their recyclables for $6 per tonne; currently, the transfer station costs $125 per tonne to recover the material or $68 per tonne to incinerate it. 

Recycling programs have been slashed in cities that couldn’t afford to pay more. The number of recycling drop-off locations via dumpster rentals has decreased, and some programs have been reintroduced after public protests. Some schemes have increased charges to households while others have restricted the products they accept.

Review: Quikrete Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

Well, this is one of those reviews, like many others, that is a bit of a double-edged sword. A couple of months ago, while we still had a little sunshine up here in the Pacific Northwest, I set about to coat my garage floor with epoxy.

It’s important to do this job while the sun is shining so that you can have your stuff outside for a few days. Make no mistake, unless your garage is barren, you’re going to have to keep a few things outdoors while your flooring cures.

So, I got all set up. Tool bench outside. Bikes and other sporting equipment outside. Everyone is well aware that there will be no cars parked indoors till Tuesday. I went to the hardware store to pick up a couple of cases of Quikrete’s Epoxy Garage Floor Coating based on relatively strong reviews from friends, both online and real.

And, having used epoxy quite a few times in the past, I was pretty familiar with how things should work. I’ve always found that the devil is in the details with epoxy work, and that one of the most important things you can do is proper prep work before hand. In this case, that meant giving the garage floor a good cleaning. It almost felt unnatural given how I’ve abused that poor floor in the past.

Anyway, floor swept and even mopped. Oil and grease stains removed and I’ve ready to go. Honestly, following the directions wasn’t terribly difficult. Mixing was a breeze, and application was relatively painless.

Just knowing that patience is the greatest virtue when applying epoxy is the biggest obstacle. It took a few projects to figure that out, but it’s made all the difference for me over the years. Back to the directions – they were a snap. Let’s get to the meat and potatoes here. Why the double-edged sword?

Well, I took my time to properly prepare for the project, and followed Quikrete’s instructions to a tee. And it came out beautifully. So, what’s the rub? The rub is that the product itself is really quite nice, but there isn’t enough of it. I know how to calculate square feet, and I was well within their recommended usage statistics.

In the end, I ended up heading back to the hardware store a couple of days later to buy two more Quikrete Epoxy Garage Floor Coating kits, doubling my initial cost estimates for the project. All in all though, I think the end result came out better by letting the first coat cure and then applying the second. So, the verdict? Great product, just expect to buy more than you think you’ll need.

Using an Epoxy Sealer

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to try to become more active on the blog, and plow through a bunch of post ideas that have been brought up to me, or that have occurred to me. Today, we’ll tackle epoxy sealers, how to pick a good one, and what to be aware of going into any project involving them.

For years, I have done the standard Thompson’s treatment on my various decks and patios in the homes I have lived in. It should come as not surprise, though, given the nature of this blog, that I have been itching to try something a little more robust, a little more… epoxy-like. So, naturally, I began my latest outdoor wood treatment project by seeing if there were any heavy duty epoxy products that I might try for my deck.

Drawback #1: epoxy sealer is not cheap. Accustomed to the bang-for-your-buck deck sealants that I’ve always used in the past, I encountered a bit of sticker shock as I began shopping. But, hey, I love using epoxy products, and have found that they always pay for themselves over time, so this shouldn’t be any different, right?

In fact, this is one of the reasons that I like their products so much. They seem to engineer everything to stand up to the ocean, and my home is a much friendlier environment, so my projects are always overdone, and I like that.

Anyway, I went with their S-1 Epoxy Sealer, and have been very pleased with the results. Not only is my deck tough as nails now, I was able to mix in a white pigment into the sealer and give my deck a little color. Plus the pigment should give my epoxy a little extra UV protection – always nice when you’re dealing with epoxy as it’s the only weakness you might ever encounter.

Application was a piece of cake as I’ve become pretty darn good at using epoxy products over the years. The only thing I’d recommend, even though they suggest minimal surface prep, would be to give your deck a pretty thorough scrubdown prior to using the sealant. It’ll only make your life easier in the end.