Wasted Recycling In San Francisco

San Francisco prides itself in its waste management system. There are three containers collected on trash pickup days: black for trash, blue for recycling, and green for compost. Having just moved into the city, my son dutifully separated the trash from the recyclables he had accumulated during the move.

I happened to be looking out the window when the garbage truck pulled up. The black container was hooked on the left lift and, immediately next to it, the blue container was hooked to the right lift. Both lifts were engaged simultaneously and dumped into the hopper. I thought that was odd, but perhaps there was a separating panel.

The truck moved down the street and repeated the process, this time with the blue container on the left and the black container on the right. Same simultaneous lift and dump. It was obvious that the carefully separated materials were combined inside the truck.