Comment by throw0101a
9 hours ago
> I live in the EU, where I have five separate waste streams: glass, paper, plastic/metal, RVM plastic, and general trash.
In Toronto, Canada (and Ontario generally?) we use single-stream recycling:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-stream_recycling
So we have organic waste (food scraps, etc; green bin), recycling (blue), and everything else ("garbage"; black). Organics/green gets picked up every week, blue and black alternate (always on the same day: so one week green+blue, next week green+black).
For hazardous stuff you take it to a depot or wait for a city community event nearby:
* https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/recycling-organics-...
This past year the provincial government made it so that municipalities do not have to handle recycling anymore, but it is now the responsibility of the manufacturers ("producer responsibility model")
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_in_Canada#Ontario
* https://www.circularmaterials.ca/what-is-epr/
Is there a reason why all these separate streams are used where you live?
Oh this wouldn't work in many countries like those in the global south. Everything would just go into the garbage bin because it's less of an inconvenience. It's best to force people into rigid categories like plastic, paper, food etc. Without giving them an ambiguous option like recyclables, like no one knows what is recyclable.
I see several reasons listed in the first link in your comment.