Talk:Recycling in the United States

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This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Lmayfield.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 07:53, 17 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Unbalanced article

This article is completely useless in my opinion; it also depicts a nation where recycling basically doesn't exist as if USA were stuck in the 1950s, while there are important experiences even in USA as far as I know. Can we identify some areas/sections to improve/expand?

Total percentage of recycled waste in the USA, status across states or for different materials. For instance, is it normal in the USA to recycle paper and glass as it is in Europe since a few decades? Aluminium, plastic? (This to give a very general overview.)
How common is door-to-door recycling? (To understand daily life in USA, of which waste is an important component like cuisine or entertainment.)
How many actors are there on the recycling market etc. (Impact on economy in broad sense.)
Examples are all cherry-picked and have no value, they should be replaced with actual information like number of cities and inhabitants with mandatory recycling of the various categories of waste.

I added a link to an EPA report which probably contains a lot of information suitable for the article. --Nemo 07:13, 20 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Off Topic

This is an article about "Recycling in the United States". There is no need for a paragraph describing mandatory recycling in the European Union. Recommend deletion of that paragraph. 108.65.32.10 (talk) 17:07, 9 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Many of Statements Need Cited Sources

Many of the statements in this article, especially in the National Efforts and Financial Implications sections, need citations. Please cite your sources. --Lmayfield (talk) 21:11, 8 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Many statements need clarification and explanation

Some examples Go into more detail about what a "bottle bill" is and how they differ between states.

In the "Mandatory recycling" section "Disposal of recyclables in the garbage is prohibited from households, businesses and apartment." Where is this prohibited and why?

In the "Financial Implications" section

"For example, recycling efforts in New York City cost $57 million per year in 2002." This was way past the infancy of recycling in the U.S. "To refute this argument, people pointed out that the social benefits to society from recycling compensate for any difference in cost." What people are pointing this out? Where's your source??

"The long term financial and social costs of pollution caused by landfilling waste are often not taken into consideration." Who is not taking the financial and social costs into consideration?

"Most recently, Waukesha County began receiving a $6.50 per ton bonus for recyclables coming into their private MRF (Materials Recycling Facility)." Where was/is this money coming from?

"Combining that with the average revenue from the sale of the materials minus the long-term costs incurred if the items had been landfilled, the average total lost revenue (county's share) for recyclables thrown in the landfill is $112.50." How was this calculated?

In the "Recycling Status" Section

"1.2 billion tons of trash in the United States." What year?

"An average of approximately 230 million tons of trash is generated by the United States in any given year." Time frame this average is based on?

"Approximately 100% increase in total recycling in the United States during the past decade." Replace past decade with the decade range. Times change --Lmayfield (talk) 21:24, 8 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

World War II recycling

Over a decade ago I was surprised that there was no article on scrap drives and related recycling efforts during World War II. These were a huge thing on the home front, much promoted, publicized, and participated in. This is a big hole in Wikipedia that needs filling. -- Infrogmation (talk) 05:19, 8 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Infrogmation: You are correct. I would just like to add that there are many beautiful propaganda posters from that period that urge US citizens to bring in scrap, save waste paper, old rags and rubber et cetera. Here is a nice slideshow of some of them. Poveglia (talk) 05:22, 8 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

We also have some on Commons: File:Save Waste Fats for Explosives.jpg File:Help us preserve your surplus...food LCCN98518439.jpg Poveglia (talk) 05:33, 8 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]