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while i think that a good portion of recyclables are not recycled due to laziness, i think MOST of the time, the problem is due to confusion and/or lack of awareness.
**for example, in many municipalities in new jersey, only plastics 1, 2, & 3 are recycled, and paperboard milk & juice cartons & tetrapaks never are. in other nj municipalities, plastics all the way to 6 are recycled, as are paperboard cartons & tetrapaks. in some municipalities, recyclables MUST be set out in clear or blue plastic bags. In other municipalities, recyclable must NOT be set out in plastic bags at all (for instance, in Jersey City, any material set out in any plastic bag will be treated as regular trash. I will bet my CSA share that most jersey city residents --especially those who migrated here from NYC and its boroughs-- do not realize this.). people moving from one municipality to another may not be aware, or may be confused, by the specific differences in the recycling specifics of their new municipality. the specifics are rarely common knowledge-- they are not posted on street signs the way speed limits are, and they are not self-evident by casually observing the neighbors activities the way general waste collection is. You have to actively seek out the information, and most people don't do that either because they don't know where to go, or b/c they don't know that they don't know the specifics to begin with.
**another problem, i think, is that people often assume that someone else is taking care of the problem. for example, in jersey city, a large chunk of the downtown population lives in high-rise apartment buildings and condominium buildings. many residents in these buildings do separate their recyclables from their trash, and dispose of these things separately in clear/blue vs white/black bags, etc. Unfortunately, many of the high-rise buildings do not employ private waste management systems for recyclable pick-up, and as I mentioned, Jersey City's public waste management system treats any bagged material as trash. Most recyclable waste from these high-rise community tenants goes into trash, even if the tenants assumed it would be recycled.
**finally, another problem is that municipalities don't often make it easy to begin with. If a municipality does not have a waste management information source available online, many residents will simply not know what and how to recycle properly in their community. If a municipality doesn't take recyclables in bags, it means residents must recycle in bins with this exclusive purpose. If the municipality does not provide these bins, it is up to residents to purchase them (and replace them when they become damaged, lost by gusty winds, or stolen)-- and many residents will not.
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