Unspoken issues with recycling need to be addressed
By Lethbridge Herald on August 29, 2024.
Editor:
With regard to the Thursday, Aug. 15 article on the Alberta government’s implementation of EPR – Extended Producer Responsibility:
The article by Al Beeber has a lot of information we Albertans need to know but it is the things not said that I feel need to be examined.
Firstly:
Responsibility
It is all about packaging – whether it’s paper, cardboard,box board, plastic, glass, aluminum or tin cans( metal) – and the consumer – meaning us. Alberta has been the world leader with regard to beverage container recycling be it plastic – pop pete bottles and HDPE milk containers or any beverage packaged in glass, metal, aluminum, tetra packs or coated papers ( milk/pouches). That system works very well and needs not to be touched.
Our private companies (Waste Management, GFL, Waste Connections, etc.) have always been good at collecting cardboard, boxboard and industrial, commercial and institutional paper, and getting it to a user – paper mills – to be recycled. And, we the consumer always paid for the collection, the sorting and marketing – one way or another.
Now the consumer is going to pay for the consumer packaging goods in a different manner – higher costs levied by the producers (Proctor and Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Campbells Soup, MacCains, etc.) for a third party to get to take over their recycling obligations for a fraction of the cost if they were to be responsible and do it themselves.
This third party – Circular Materials – will pay for all the recyclables to be collected, transported, sorted, baled and marketed from every village, town, city or municipality in Alberta. As a large producer I would be frothing at the bit to join in the recycling party as the cost to them will probably be one tenth of the cost if they were responsible to clean up the packaging they have thrust upon us consumers.
Secondly:
Markets for the recyclables
How will a non-profit firm (Circular Materials) do a better job at finding markets for our waste packaging like plastic soap containers than the multinational private firms like Waste Management? They won’t! And it lets the big extended producers off the hook with regard to managing their waste containers and packaging properly.
Thirdly:
Money
Will the City of Lethbridge, and all the villages, towns and cities and municipalities all eliminate the recycling charges they currently charge their residents? In Lethbridge, the recycling fee is $10.17 per month, waste reduction fee is $4.08 per month and what is the administration charge?
Lastly:
Chris Neilson – whom I believe is one of the most informed and knowledgeable persons in Alberta with regard to materials recycling – emphasizes that it is possible to recycle today’s waste if we can collect it, but if it (recyclables) get stockpiled, or old or wet or dirty, then we have our challenges.
What he means is – if there are no markets, the whole system falls apart.
I guess all we can do is go with the new system and hope it does not fall apart.
Grant R Harrington
Lethbridge
22-21
well shared – thank you. packaging is a significant part of the issue. great we have got rid of the plastic shopping bag, but that is nothing compared to the plastics and cardboard companies get to overuse to make their stuff look better than it is. typically, the packaging is several times more than the product we are going to use. as is also typical, the corp gets to create pollution with little to any meaningful controls; the consumer gets to pay for disposal. and, why not a shout out to all the fast food craplets that are responsible for tons of garbage…and to the folks that belly up to keep it happening. and, mostly, with their cars running for extended periods because they are too lazy to get out of them for a short walk.
Hey Biff, they have this app out now whereas you dictate into the microphone and it types it out for you. You don’t have to worry about punctuation, You don’t have to worry about capitalization and you might not come off so disingenuous. I used it here. No need to respond, please! This was just a suggestion.
I have often wondered why Biff observes some conventions of written English and not others. He seems, for instance, to have a working understanding of where to place commas, periods and how to use the semi-colon, a tricky punctuation mark that challenged many of my students, but is unable to locate the shift key for capitalization.
Like many women, my wife among them, and to paraphrase Woodrow Call, one of the great characters of the Western Genre, “I hate inconsistency in a man.”
i observed all the written conventions when i wrote papers, and do so when i need to prepare a formal written submission. this forum is hardly formal, to me, and most of what i enter is off the cuff. with regard to my disrespect for caps, several things led me to what has proven so distressful to some, that inconceivable oversight of the grand law of caps: 1) i enjoyed e.e cummings, as a poet and in that he did not “need” to cap (and, no, i do not at all equate myself with, or at all try to project as cummings);2) we punctuate sentence endings, thus, we know when a sentence is done. i came to see it as redundant “having” to cap afterward; 3) often times when i keyed, i ended up with a small letter even when i have hit held shift. perhaps i have the tendency to release too quickly.
as for consistency, i feel i am consistent with regard to my disregard for caps.
no one has to read my entries, and many/most do not – they see biff and either skip on by, or, they may satisfy themselves immensely by going direct to the neg icon, and then move on. others will take a moment to interact by sharing their perspectives with grace and intelligence. the odd others will be sure to share their limits via the likes of intolerance and vulgarities. it is well enough that we are able to speak our minds.
This letter was about recycling. Strange how the punctuation police went after biff. They must not like you. Shows the depth of their condescending attitude. I am surprised biff, and you have defended yourself well, that you did not provide the universal wording for sex and travel to your dissenters. Admirable restraint. Now back to Grants letter.
haha! while it is interesting to read and share perspectives, it is best to not take any of this personally or too seriously. i have come to use this as a way to grow my tolerance and my ability to be less reactive. sometimes still lose myself, but i am a good bit less nasty and given to personal attacks now. not as evolved as the likes of tad m., but he is at the forefront when i consider exemplars.
always good to read you, regardless of that which we see differently.
“” i have the tendency to release too quickly.”””
ha ha ha
At least I wasn’t being a condescending d-bag as you always are, buck. Of course, blowhard biff couldn’t resist responding when asked not to. Speaks volumes about both you clowns.
i did not respond to your entry that has nothing to do with the topic, and, was further typical of your desire to share ignorance and condescension. however, as you appear to actually wish for interaction with numerous replies to me here, as inane as they read, you may be able to piece together that i am responding to your entry here. i do so to note that your entries tend to say much about you that are hardly flattering. i acknowledge your lack of depth at this juncture, but wish you well should you choose to try and be a better person.
Speaking of condescending d bags. Look in the mirror and shave a couple inches off your tin foil head. Lol. D bag
You make zero sense (as usual), but to be called a d-bag by the biggest d-bag is an honor! Go look at your 24 negative votes on your other posted comment. lol!
Sorry, biff, but this is too good to pass on. Did you really mean to say that you have a tendency to release too early?
that is what i wrote, and given the context – hint: shift key – should not be an issue. however, you and the brilliant lumpy (great company to be in, i’m sure) show vast maturity overlooking context for your cheap jollies. somehow, between the both of you, “what’s in a name?” comes to mind.
Once again, biff finds it difficult to get over himself. Surely he needs to respond to everything. ::rolleyes::