Monday, December 20, 2010

Collecting the garbage and raking in the dough

From the NY Times:

The appliances did not develop legs and walk away, and they did not simply disappear.

Scavengers, to be sure, abound in New York, especially during tough economic times. But the sheer magnitude of the thefts — 11,528 appliances, to be precise — over a relatively brief period suggests to some in city government and the recycling industry that a more organized enterprise may be at work as well.

Deepening the mystery, these were neither the latest Sub Zero behemoths, sleek Bosch nor stylish retro Smeg refrigerators. They were garbage, quite literally — discarded appliances left at the curb for pickup by the Sanitation Department.

And while the value of one discarded appliance may seem marginal at best, in the scrap industry, the fluctuations of commodity prices and volume add up to real money.

Indeed, the big loser in what might be called New York’s Appliances Caper appears to be a multinational recycling conglomerate, a subsidiary of which has a large city contract to recycle the hundreds of thousands of tons of metal, glass and plastic generated each year by New Yorkers, including bulk metal, like appliances.

The subsidiary, Sims Municipal Recycling of New York L.L.C., estimates that the thefts, along with schemes involving redeemable bottles, are costing the company $2 million to $4 million a year.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Indeed, the big loser in what might be called New York’s Appliances Caper appears to be a multinational recycling conglomerate, a subsidiary of which has a large city contract.."

In other words: Politically connected shits who greased the right palms.

Several major news outlet including CBS' Sixty Minutes did an expose on these mostly foreign own rackets. The bulk of what they purport to "recycle" is in fact sent via ship to third world hellholes such as parts of India, The Philippines and and Vietnam where it is mostly just busted up and dumped among the locals.

Attempts by the locals to retrieve what little valuable metals can be found are done in the most primitive manner with boiling pots of poisonous metal and the pollution form the operation have led to soaring cancer and other diseases.

Again and putting it crudely, the companies and their mostly foreign owners are the heartless dregs and shit of the earth.

Anonymous said...

every sunday night at 9PM, the asian gang members pick through the garbage on my block for the bottles and cans. check the two waldbaums grocery recycling machines on monday,in auburndale for money exchanging. and plan to wait if you try to use the machines.

Anonymous said...

It's garbage if it's on the street or sidewalk, take it, period. On private property I will shoot you if you do not ask my permission to enter it.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I'm really not caring that some company is losing money over other people being garbage pickers. *Yawn*

Anonymous said...

They really need to end the bottle desposit.

Keep the 5c charge on them even, i dont mind. just end the return part of it. Keep some of these garbage pickers away from my neighborhood!

Anonymous said...

Keep the 5c charge on them even, i dont mind. just end the return part of it. Keep some of these garbage pickers away from my neighborhood!

Return the bottles yourself if you don't want garbage pickers going through the trash. As long as it doesn't wind up in the street, I don't care what enterprising person takes it away.

Auntie Invasion said...

sounds like yet another illegal alien
racket. If an American does something, it's a crime, if an illegal alien/immigrant does the same thing, they are encouraged and applauded.
what about all the security cameras? or is that just for Americans?

Anonymous said...

Return the bottles yourself if you don't want garbage pickers going through the trash. As long as it doesn't wind up in the street, I don't care what enterprising person takes it away.

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As if they dont go through the bags and cans anyway? As it is, i break all my bottles before putting them on the curb.

I care about who comes and takes my garbage, because i don't want animals coming down my block in the middle of the night. End the 5c return and you cut off their reason for being near my home.

Anonymous said...

'I care about who comes and takes my garbage, because i don't want animals coming down my block in the middle of the night."

Tell your neighbors not to put their cat out at night.

The people looking for bottles are -humans-.

"End the 5c return and you cut off their reason for being near my home."

Don't worry, the smell from your precious domicile will do that.