Throwing glass and plastic bottles in trash!

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
I was wondering whether its an offense to throw away glass/plastic bottles in your normal trash in the Zuri sack.

One of my flatmate's been doing it constantly even though I've requested him a million times not to do it. Cuz the glass can break and hurt someone handling the trash and all.... but he just wouldn't stop doing it.

Any suggestions on how to scare/stop him from doing this?

P.S. Don't know if its in the right section, but I guess this is where it seems to fit.. Mods, please move it if its in the wrong section.

2
Yeah I always do it. Why would glass hurt the bin man? People have been putting glass into rubbish bags for quite a while now. Maybe you'd get on better with your flatmate if you minded your own business.

3
Where are all the environmentalists?

cuz the glass might break?

Yeah, ok I'll give you that one.

4
i'm pretty sure there's a rule against putting recyclables into the standard garbage. that's why there are stories about garbage men digging through your sack to find receipts or anything else to identify you and then fine you.

5
make it easy and get 2 different bins. That way there is no excuse.

It really isnt that much of a hassle to seperate and bring them to the appropriate containers....if only everyone would do there part......

6
Yup. 7 million conscientious Swiss vs 1000 million Chinese...

Anyway, I'm with Economisto. Household harmony trumps eco-warrior credits.

7

ha yes but 7mil is better than 0 is it not?

8
That's the thing... we do have different bins and they are within 5 feet of each other. But I guess it harder than one thinks to walk a few steps!

9
I do in fact recycle - all the cardboard and paper stuff and I never put oil down the sink. I don't buy mineral water or heavily packaged items so I don't have a huge amount of glass or plastic. But yeah, I'm not averse to chucking the olive jar in with the rest of the rubbish. Recycling is a resounding "meh" from me - the best way to be environmentally conscious is to not use it in the first place.

10
Where im from we just chucked all recyclables in the bin and it was sorted at a plant, so yeah...maybe they're not used to this recycling malarkey

11
I enjoy my weekly trip to the recycling centre

12

Where we live, the rubbish gets burnt to generate electricity so they've got to be annoyed when grown adults who really should know better fill their rubbish sacs with glass which gets dealt with in a different way.

13
huh

14
I thought that only happens when you don't use the official bags?

15
Sorry, it wasn't meant to be confusing for you.

Where I live:

Glass shouldn't be put in the standard rubbish sacks.

Instead it should be taken to a recycling centre where, depending on the level of colour-contamination, it's either recycled into more glass bottles or used for roads etc.

Metal also gets recycled.

The stuff that goes in the standard rubbish sac gets burnt in the local incinerator to generate electricity and hot water. A fringe benefit is the amount of landfill.

Glass doesn't burn well in the incinerator so shouldn't be put in the sacks.

(This is well publicised in many forms so only adults who can't read or can't be bothered put glass in these sacks).

16
Bin men have been lifting glass bottles for decades, as long as you can restrain yourself from shattering the glass before you place it in the bin, then it shouldn't be a problem.

I'm pretty sure that's only for not using Zurisacks. While seperating recycling is obviously stressed as a high factor in disposal etiquette, it's not illegal to put it all in one Zuribag... and nor should it be imo.

17
Glass and plastic cause huge damage to the incinerator plants- so it is essential that it is separated from the rest of the rubbish. And of course batteries and light bulbs release dangerous chemicals during the incinerating process, so MUST be taken special containers in supermarket or recycling area. There is nothing petty or boring about this - but really does make sense.

18
This really is a no-brainer.

You pay through the nose for an official rubbish sack in Zurich, something which should really cost about CHF0.15, in order to stop idiots putting recyclable stuff in the general household rubbish.

Glass, paper, cardboard, PET bottles are free to recycle. All your flatmate needs to do is get up off his arse to drop them in to the appropriate repositiry on the way to buy more comsumables. It'll save him and you money .

Sheesh...

19
It's funny how specific pleas for advice always turn into ethical debates on the EF...

Getting back to the OP's question:

Is it an offence to throw recyclable material in with the normal rubbish? Should he raise the issue with his flatmate, or let it go? If the answer to the first question is yes , then he really should tell his flatmate, for fear of everyone in the household getting punished for the actions of one person.

If the answer to the first question is no , then I'd suggest he let it be. Of course, other people may disagree with that suggestion.

But please, don't let this degenerate into another right-on eco-warrior hectoring spree...

20
if he does it again, just empty the entire contents of the bin onto his bed. he'll soon get the message.