This varies heavily by location. I’m not sure “usually” comes into it. In and around cities it’s not uncommon for the city government to handle trash collection. Farther out into the 'burbs or in rural locations you might have to hire a private trash company.
On a holiday to a suburban part of the States we walked around and counted over 10 different individual services on a single street. Blew my mind. I get what others are saying that obviously whether you’re paying privately or through taxes etc it still costs money, but what really sticks with me is what I can only assume is huge inefficiencies in these areas
It can also be included as part of your taxes as well. I used to live literally 1 street over from where the official city limits were (a whole 1 mile from downtown), and while the city provided trash/recycling services within that boundary, anyone outside had to pay like $30/mo for a private service that only did trash pickup, and had to pay another $12/mo for recycling.
In my new town, we’re on the very outskirts of the city, but it’s all provided by the city as part of our property taxes. We get recycling, trash, and compost services. Best part is you even get 1m³ compost and mulch from the city from the compost service. We grew an absolutely insane amount of vegetables from it last year, it was really awesome.
This is never something I’d have even thought about being privatised, I guess I just assumed it was always in the interest of local authorities to make sure there isn’t just shit piling up everywhere and pay for it through taxation. It’s also surely much more cost effective to centralise.
Today I not only discover that isn’t the case, but that you also commonly have to pay extra to recycle. Like what?! Do poorer people have to just not have their bins collected? Or make a choice about whether things get recycled?!
This has absolutely blown my mind!
If you take it to a refuse & recycling centre yourself (I assume those exist with public access), do you have to pay for that too?!
Do poorer people have to just not have their bins collected? Or make a choice about whether things get recycled?!
Yup. As always, it’s very expensive to be poor, and you wind up having to haul stuff to the dump yourself, taking the time, fuel, etc to do it.
I didn’t pay for recycling with Waste Management, because I knew that 95% of it would go to landfill anyway, so why bother? It’s literally just a way for people to greenwash their disposable lifestyle and WM profits off it.
If you take it to a refuse & recycling centre yourself (I assume those exist with public access), do you have to pay for that too?!
Yes. Even in my town, there’s still an additional fee for taking certain things to the disposal/recycling center. It’s only a couple of dollars, but it’s also mostly for stuff that’s hazmat.
Fortunately, my state of Michigan has a seperate program for bottles and cans, and I make damn sure those never go to landfill. Something like 97% of those are recycled here. The only other “recyclable” waste we really had would have been plastics, so like you said there was really no reason. I had a seperate bin for non-returnable glass/steel/aluminum that I’d bring over to a community recycling center every once in a while, so it’s not like I was throwing everything out. I still tried my best, but it just really made no sense to pay that much per month for a bin that we’d manage to fill maybe twice a year.
I put in far, far more effort than most to minimize my waste, but there’s always a point where it’s just not worth it unfortunately.
Iowa and Illinois also do that. I live in rural Wisconsin but I know people who will collect their bottles and cans until they have gigantic bins full and drive them to a neighboring state to redeem them (usually as part of trip to a larger city for shopping)
It’s hard to choose to recycle here. Not only is it expensive, but it feels like they change what they can recycle every 2 weeks (exaggerating but still).
Also, sorting and rinsing everything takes a lot of time when you have to work 3 jobs just to afford your apartment. For me personally, though, I don’t work (can’t) but I have so many doctors appointments that I might as well. And my disabilities make it hard to take the extra time to sort.
Sometimes - well, not in my town, but I’ve seen it happen - the same truck picks up both the trash and the recycle. So there’s not really a point to sorting it in those places since it all goes in the same truck. In places where they do put them on different trucks, “recycling” centers have been caught selling the items to other states or even other countries, and most of the time is rerouted to landfills.
A lot of people in my town put their recyclables in plastic bags, which obviously can’t be recycled, so then it ends up at the landfill anyway.
Well obviously someone is paying for garbage collection, I just think a lot of people are used to having it be paid for over tax, so that you don’t have to think about remembering to pay your quarterly $85 fee lol.
what the hell
This varies heavily by location. I’m not sure “usually” comes into it. In and around cities it’s not uncommon for the city government to handle trash collection. Farther out into the 'burbs or in rural locations you might have to hire a private trash company.
What, too much freedom for you to handle?
yeah we got like 6 companies that take care of trash in my neighborhood
I probably should shop around I’ll bet one of them is cheapest
6 different companies?l that just sounds super efficient
On a holiday to a suburban part of the States we walked around and counted over 10 different individual services on a single street. Blew my mind. I get what others are saying that obviously whether you’re paying privately or through taxes etc it still costs money, but what really sticks with me is what I can only assume is huge inefficiencies in these areas
In Australia we pay about $700 a year to the local government to collect the bins
worth noting though this is not like a “you sort it out” thing or anything… it’s basically a tax
*council. It’s part of your rates. My last were like $150 for recyc/garbage/green
$780 here annually
Jesus. You sure that’s not total rates incl fire service?
I’m sure, just changed my bins for an extra garden waste one
Is a council not a government?
Governing body, certainly. In vic, they’re considered a low tier of govt. In NSW they’re actually considered ‘elected corporate bodies’. It’s weird.
It can also be included as part of your taxes as well. I used to live literally 1 street over from where the official city limits were (a whole 1 mile from downtown), and while the city provided trash/recycling services within that boundary, anyone outside had to pay like $30/mo for a private service that only did trash pickup, and had to pay another $12/mo for recycling.
In my new town, we’re on the very outskirts of the city, but it’s all provided by the city as part of our property taxes. We get recycling, trash, and compost services. Best part is you even get 1m³ compost and mulch from the city from the compost service. We grew an absolutely insane amount of vegetables from it last year, it was really awesome.
This is never something I’d have even thought about being privatised, I guess I just assumed it was always in the interest of local authorities to make sure there isn’t just shit piling up everywhere and pay for it through taxation. It’s also surely much more cost effective to centralise.
Today I not only discover that isn’t the case, but that you also commonly have to pay extra to recycle. Like what?! Do poorer people have to just not have their bins collected? Or make a choice about whether things get recycled?!
This has absolutely blown my mind!
If you take it to a refuse & recycling centre yourself (I assume those exist with public access), do you have to pay for that too?!
Yup. As always, it’s very expensive to be poor, and you wind up having to haul stuff to the dump yourself, taking the time, fuel, etc to do it.
I didn’t pay for recycling with Waste Management, because I knew that 95% of it would go to landfill anyway, so why bother? It’s literally just a way for people to greenwash their disposable lifestyle and WM profits off it.
Yes. Even in my town, there’s still an additional fee for taking certain things to the disposal/recycling center. It’s only a couple of dollars, but it’s also mostly for stuff that’s hazmat.
I understand not feeling like it’s worth the bother to pay for recycling, but aluminum cans and glass are infinitely recyclable.
It’s a real shame that plastic makes the whole process seem worthless
Fortunately, my state of Michigan has a seperate program for bottles and cans, and I make damn sure those never go to landfill. Something like 97% of those are recycled here. The only other “recyclable” waste we really had would have been plastics, so like you said there was really no reason. I had a seperate bin for non-returnable glass/steel/aluminum that I’d bring over to a community recycling center every once in a while, so it’s not like I was throwing everything out. I still tried my best, but it just really made no sense to pay that much per month for a bin that we’d manage to fill maybe twice a year.
I put in far, far more effort than most to minimize my waste, but there’s always a point where it’s just not worth it unfortunately.
You mean you save bottles and cans for that sweet, sweet 10 cent deposit?
And good on you for doing what you can.
Absolutely. If I drink something returnable, I’m holding onto it for dear life. I’ll be damned if I’m giving them to my company
Iowa and Illinois also do that. I live in rural Wisconsin but I know people who will collect their bottles and cans until they have gigantic bins full and drive them to a neighboring state to redeem them (usually as part of trip to a larger city for shopping)
It’s hard to choose to recycle here. Not only is it expensive, but it feels like they change what they can recycle every 2 weeks (exaggerating but still).
Also, sorting and rinsing everything takes a lot of time when you have to work 3 jobs just to afford your apartment. For me personally, though, I don’t work (can’t) but I have so many doctors appointments that I might as well. And my disabilities make it hard to take the extra time to sort.
Sometimes - well, not in my town, but I’ve seen it happen - the same truck picks up both the trash and the recycle. So there’s not really a point to sorting it in those places since it all goes in the same truck. In places where they do put them on different trucks, “recycling” centers have been caught selling the items to other states or even other countries, and most of the time is rerouted to landfills.
A lot of people in my town put their recyclables in plastic bags, which obviously can’t be recycled, so then it ends up at the landfill anyway.
Idk, there’s a lot more but basically it sucks.
I didn’t know there were municipal compost piles, mine is just down the road, thanks for the tip!
I live in the US and garbage collection is free in my city and many others.
Exactly, the garbage companies work in exchange for exposure/free advertising
What do you think the US some socialist country?! Everything must be a private country because… Capitalism! No “socialized” waste disposal here!
It’s the same in my EU country (at least for single family homes, I don’t know about apartments)
The private companies are contracted by the municipalities and I don’t think you can legally avoid paying the garbage collection tax/fee.
Afaik they don’t give you the option of dealing with your own trash, because that would mean a lot more trash in the forest.
Well obviously someone is paying for garbage collection, I just think a lot of people are used to having it be paid for over tax, so that you don’t have to think about remembering to pay your quarterly $85 fee lol.
You realize your taxes pay for collection too. So you either pay a private company or you pay the government.