Is Recycling a Waste of Time?

[jonahwhitt425]

local job search online careertaker(dot)info waiting to hire 

[Unbeloved1]

1999+15 = 2014 .... i smell a dropout

[soylentgreenb]

When it pays to recycle it's a good idea(e.g. copper, steel, aluminium). When the government has to pay you to recycle or fine you for not recycling it is generally neither economically useful or good for the environment(the exceptions are where not recycling is environmentally very harmful; e.g. items containg significant quantities of mercury).

[scottypaul266]

stop breeding it is easy maybe start again when the world population halfs

[kroovyandcal]

this man is love. love for humanity. those that tell the truth are love. i hope al gore gets nasty fuck minimalized

[kroovyandcal]

these elite are intentionally trying to kill economic growth with this eco-fascist bullshit. it's such a nice sell to show retarded fucking hippies dancing in some hootenany promoting shit like the an upside down man on a cross as a peace symbol and also "save the earth"

[arlichar11]

it about time .recycling is a scam...

[recycleurscraps]

its honestly not that recycling is a waste, but to continue producing and consuming the way we are just because "well we can recycle it" is an illusion. Promoting the 3 R's Reducing, then creatively Reusing and then recycling whats left is a good solid process.

[sabaths1fan]

I doubt the people that are employees at these recycling plants think they are wasting their time and not earning their paycheck with a fair days work.

[Luminaring]

wow, it has been a long time since i have heard such a logical mind and such a complete report for the lay person, which we ALL are, thank you Thomas

[stevo4815162342]

He's mainly talking about that it's expensive. I'm an extreme environmentalist but recycling cans and plastic is not the main problem. We need to stop the destruction of the rain forest.

[Snackay]

Burning plastic is not healthy.

[505alicious]

Where Germany is admitting failure here, we are succeeding here in the United States and apparently in Bangladesh, Nigeria and in many other countries as well.

[scottypaul266]

al. is about the only thing that is economical to recycle. germany spend money and fuel moving wast about because of their limits per area that sound sensible,

trouble is folks there is no panacea just stop consumming stop driving and stop having babies then the world is saved. in fact if you look into it if you dont have a baby then you can pretty much lead you life as you want cos you have not brought another consumer into this planet and taught it how to consume

[cinndave]

Pretty much all metals are economical to recycle. The recycling rate for lead is 98% in the USA. Recycling metal is better for the environment than mining & smelting ore. Steel scrapyards were making money by recycling long before the Mobro barge scared us into recycling like crazy.

[crackerkiller89]

yeah lets all just stop making babies. Sounds sensible. Oh wait, WE ARE TRYING TO SURVIVE. dont tell people to not have babies. Having one baby is enough to lower the population.

[LatteLiberal]

As a Christian and a Republican, God will take care of the environment better than man can. Recycling in my opinion funds the liberal left which indirectly funds homosex, art, abortion, satanism, veganism, lesbianism, environmentalism, etc. I'd rather use more fossil fuels that funds terrorists in the middle east because at least they have God. Liberals reject God but expect us to believe in recycling. Pretty hypocritical when you think about it.

[Ev3rliving]

Sadly, people use that same justification to slough off global warming and other real environmental problems as "no big deal." That's a scary mindset for people to have.

[killswitchawesome]

wow, really? you think art goes into the same category as satanism? You believe this "God" who you can't see, can't hear, can't touch, can't smell, and can't taste will save the planet? You think recycling goes into the same category as religion? Look, i'm against recycling but your arguements are complete humbug.

[falcon5956]

yeah sure "Liberal" nice fail trolling go jerk off to some obama videos fucker. btw fuck arabs jews and christians and especially COMMUNISTS/DEMOCRATS/LIBERALS OTHER PARASITES

[sixchip]

We have a waste to energy plant here in where I live in Florida. It makes our electricity I know you won't believe it but its supper clean and keep our power bills low. Nothing is perfect but its darn close.

[avatar941]

He specifically says that this isn't just open fires, he says it is filtered, high-tech burning that produces usable energy. You're sort of understating what he is saying.

Also, I don't think he's saying its more productive to avoid waste (not that thats a bad idea) but that we should embrace the much more efficient but seemingly more wasteful methods of waste management such as burning, and focus on bigger issues than which bin to throw your sprite bottle in.

[dtharter]

Burning trash?!? That's the best a trained engineer can come up with?

Don't know how reliable of a source it was, but I read that this guy never even finished his engineering degree.

[dtharter]

It seems to me that what he was saying in this video is that it would be more productive to avoid producing waste (for example, he mentioned packaging) in the first place.

However, I don't agree that regular citizens shouldn't get involved and recycling what waste we do produce is smart and less polluting, especially with metals.

[reidmj1977]

He is not saying that citizens should not be involved in solutions (certainly recycling of aluminim cans is effective) but rather that they should not force their uninformed opinions to drive policy. But rather policy should be driven by people that have comprehensive understanding of the problem and possible solutions.

[misterfisherman]

local uk councils say to the public:do a recyling crime and you'll get thrown in jail with the murderers and sex offenders!

[ij911]

Hey, I get 0.70 per pound aluminum at Kirschbaum in Minneapolis? Where can I get more? I don't care if recycling is a waste of time. I get paid for it!

[MarshalltheArtist]

recycling Al is not a waste of time. recycling other stuff is a waste of time.

[conspirator272727]

@ij911 Hence it being a waste economically . . .

[tzunamidezign]

He under estimates human will and innovation. Please check out the video I posted on waste sorting and recycling.

[yepperoo]

With all the problems associated with the plastic industry now, they should just go back to using glass for foods, as in preserving, milk etc. IT's also amazing that with allt he computers and emails companies still generate so much paper trails! So what is the point? lol

[kberg72]

before everyone started to recycle we had one diesel burning trash truck going to every house once a week now we have 2. one of the things we are supposed to recycle is glass, wich is made from sand, is there a sand shortage i wasn't informed about?

[fistle]

In my region in the UK we have to sort our paper into one bin and out waste into another. When the refuse lorry turns up they pour both bins into the same container ! I dont recycle anymore !

[matriddle]

Am I the only person that noticed he didn't really provide factual proof that recycling is a "waste of time"?

All he said was "it's inefficient". Way to be a smart engineer there dude, you totally sold me on that one.

[MikeZdoesit]

Efficiency conserves, write that down.

[plenipotentiarius]

I agree with matriddle, a ridiculous talk, he didnt offer one reason why it was more efficient or didn't deplete minerals, etc.

The point of efficiency in recycling is of course that you do not have to put as much energy in to make something from scratch, nor does it deplete finite supplies of raw materials, and they must have won that argument in Germany in 1999.

[MikeZdoesit]

It does use as much energy. And it costs just as much. Alumium is the only thing worth ryclycing becasue you get 10 cents or whatever back for every can - Meaning effcientcy and more productive to reuse then to mine out of the ground. The whole rycling system casuses polution with trucks, factorys, electricty etc

[plenipotentiarius]

Yes but this is such an obvious argument that I wonder how a whole parliament in Germany decided in 1999 to start recycling and why half the world does it, are they really that stupid?

At the end of time I suppose, without recycling, you would have the earth as a big garbage ball with no minerals left and only waste buried in it. So the pollution is buried in the ground, but I believe this also emits gases.

[MikeZdoesit]

Unfortunately, Recycling is not a clever way solving the waist problem. Things like paper are Recycling but the fact is you can always grow more trees. The other thing is that garbage that's buried in the ground produces methane gas which you suck out and use to create electricity. There's just so many more technology advanced options available besides Recycling. Don't get me wrong, in not some earth hating individual but honestly science says there's a lot things we haven't got right.

[plenipotentiarius]

Well yes but are you trying to tell me that in 2007 we suddenly discovered we could burn paper? No, it is obviously a very complex question, hence our initial point that this video is stupid because it gives nothing other than a claim that recycling is bad.

[oibobbo]

the stupid thing is you have to recycle everything but you cannot take things from recycling centers, indeed in france they have barbed wire so you cant get in!

which is completly stupid because instead of allowing people to re-use things they burn them and then you have to get another one instead which actually produces even more waste when it breaks down

it's forces consumerism on people who do not want it or cannot afford it.

[magog1138]

I must concur. Re-use is better than recycling.

[brwwtp]

This is really true. Recycling is fake morality.

[matriddle]

Fake morality? That doesn't even make sense.

[davidblack9071]

Yeah don't think about things just do what the Germans tell us. What can go wrong.

[RuiFranciscoVieira]

this stupid calls him self a enginere...hes not talking any sence....

[cybervigilante]

The answer isn't recycling - it's to stop buying and using so much junk in the first place. Geez - talk about obvious.

[matriddle]

:D :)

[sabaths1fan]

@cybervigilante What about the stuff that we do already buy though? I mean I'm gonna buy lotion no matter what because I have a medical condition that makes my skin very dry after it comes in contact with water. Why not try and recycle the bottle?

[cybervigilante]

I know this bogus liberal who recycles all his tin cans (well, he has others do it for him), but drives a Huge SUV all over for frivolous reasons - to shows, friends, parties(to save-the-earth rallies ;'). He also buys three of everything. He uses TEN TIMES the earth's resources that I do then freaks if I don't save a tin can. It would take a billion tin cans to make up for his excesses

[lookatthetrees]

distrust is part of the recycling program? We can't increase our living standards and develope society as a whole if people recycle? Is he serious? We need to abolish recycling in order to achieve a higher standard of living? Recycling PREVENTS citizens from asking themselves how society can be improved? NONSENSE. Recycling is not THE solution to the situation we find ourselves in but that doesn't mean you throw it away. Recycling is not enough but that doesn't mean it is a problem.

[lookatthetrees]

this guy says "don't think about waste." It's a waste of money, time, and BRAIN ENERGY?Yeah, don't think about the damage we inflict on the biosphere. Go out and consume and consume some more. Be a good little consumer. He says burning material is the best we as citizens can do? Where is the new material going to come from?

[bryceronie]

Business runs everything, paying attention to supply and demand, also resources Worldwide.

Society requires an individual to obtain a business degree in order to be in management,

therefore a business degree should for the betterment of society and the environment.

Focusing on ethical and moral practices

will not only positively contribute to society and the environment but also

there is a high potential for large profit long term.

[numbah1pinoy]

Fuck recycling.

[screwopenborders]

I have plastic on my Japanese car that is bio-degrading lol

[oibobbo]

i once got a pack of bogroll that had a biodegrading package,as soon as it got slightly wet it turned into sludge!not very good to keep yer paper dry!

proabably cellulose based...

[PereztiToaleay]

If we put all of all our waste in incinerators, or landfills, eventually, however far into the future, we will run out of raw materials.

[italianchappy]

We will run out of every energy material in any case. It's like in Asimov's "last question". If you've not read his short tale, search in google. It's a wonderful story.

[PereztiToaleay]

Non-renewables will run out long before renewables.

[legendary852004]

Well the sun will be around for a few more billion years. I think we have a more then enough time to perfect solar power tech..