In NYC, Landlords are MANDATED to recycle. NYC also has one of the largest recycling programs for any city.

Plastics must be placed inside CLEAR plastic bags or in a plastic bin with a label for plastic recycling.
Paper must be placed inside CLEAR plastic bags or in a plastic bin with a label for paper recycling.
If any of these rules are violated it is a $25-125 fine depending on severity.

As a landlord it is easy to put a plastic bag in the bin and have people just throw their recyclable materials there.

You cannot throw away plastics inside of a plastic bag that is not clear. That is to say, if you buy groceries and receive a plastic bag. Then proceed to fill the plastic bag up with paper and then trash it, the DEP comes in and fines you. If you fill a non clear PLASTIC bag (that is actually not recyclable, but that in itself is entirely different story) with PLASTICS, and then dump it into the PLASTIC recycling container, you also get fined. It MUST MUST MUST be CLEAR!

Here is the problem. No one sells clear plastic bags on the tenant side (grocery stores just dont carry them), they only exist in white non clear. THe clear ones only exist in large 30-55gallon sizes at places like home depot or local hardware stores. that means if a tenant decides to go on a shred fest and fills up 3 regular non clear plastic bags and then dumps it in the paper recycling bin, the landlord gets fined. You can tell the tenant can just put it into a plastic bin and then take the bin downstairs to empty it, but then a second problem comes up. If they leave the cover open wind blows paper everywhere (and it does)then it gets into the streets and eventually the sewage system (where it gets screened and hauled off to the dump anyway) and then you get fined for a dirty front yard.

Now you might ask, how often do they fine you? Well the DEP hires agents to drive around and fine people. On average, each building gets about 3-4 fines a month, its just the way it is. That is a political thing and isnt the scope of this rant.

My question is, how do you expect us to recycle if you make it so damn difficult?

I used to crumble my paper as im working so i know i wont pick it up and mistaken it for good work. Now i put a big red x on it and stack it in a pile and at the end of a month, i stick it in a shipping box from something i ordered and then dump the box in the recycling bin. But thats just me. Everyone else now just dumps it in regular garbage. and then there are plastic bags you get from other items. I am very conscious of seprating plastic bags, packaging items, and then recycling those, but form a 8-16 family building, ti comes a nightmare.

From a municipal point of view, if paper can go in clear plastic bags, why cant they go into a NON clear plastic bag????WTF?

They don't, they are evil.
The easy answer is to move out of the city. 

I have a 1 and half yard dumpster that I just throw everything in, including the stuff that it shows a picture of on the side of it that you're not supposed to throw in there.

Carefully place your recycling bags in front of your neighbor's house

carefully? ill just plop it on the sidewalk. itll magically find itself sitting in the same spot, but all three houses (to my left and right) would get a ticket!

Lunacy.   NYC might be the biggest but it doesn't sound like the most advanced.  Here I can do exactly what you're describing without a ticket and I have a huge trash can marked recycle. 

But you're missing the point.

The point of it all is, above all else, pay the fee. Or in this case the fine.


I may live in Oregon now but I have spent most of my life in....I bet you can't guess where..
No not NY.

Anyway trust me that's how these things work.

Quote from: He Man on September 15, 2012, 07:32:41 PMFrom a municipal point of view, if paper can go in clear plastic bags, why cant they go into a NON clear plastic bag????WTF?

The answer seems pretty transparent to me.

Home depot in queens has the clear bags in house sized rolls.  They are also called leaf bags.

Simple solution is to buy only clear bags.  Your neighbors will see your trash but you don't have any privacy anyhow didi.

Quote from: ungeheuer on September 16, 2012, 03:45:49 AM
The answer seems pretty transparent to me.

I shall ponder your question as i sip on my 32 oz soda.

Quote from: ungeheuer on September 16, 2012, 03:45:49 AM
The answer seems pretty transparent to me.

The way I see it, you have 3 options, otherwise suffer.

A. Move to Colorado.
B. Move to Colorado
C. All of the above.

Quote from: He Man on September 15, 2012, 07:32:41 PM
In NYC, Landlords are MANDATED to recycle. NYC also has one of the largest recycling programs for any city.

Plastics must be placed inside CLEAR plastic bags or in a plastic bin with a label for plastic recycling...../clip/

or use the plastic bins instead..?

Quote from: herm on September 16, 2012, 06:13:53 PM
or use the plastic bins instead..?

I just assumed they were using bins like these, but maybe I shouldn't assume.

NYC should visit Seattle and learn how to do it correctly.

We have 2 recycle bins (like the one above)...one for yard trimmings and food waste (including meat/bones), and one for everything else (glass, paper, aluminum, etc). That's it. It works great. No secondary bags, ambiguous separation rules, or anything. 

Requiring (as opposed to allowing) someone to put recyclable materials into a new plastic bag (regardless of color) is beyond stupid.

Quote from: Triple J on September 17, 2012, 08:34:49 AM. . . NYC should visit Seattle and learn how to do it correctly. . . .

Maybe, but then again one could clearly say recycling is not the focus of NYC's gr$$n efforts.