Editing Recycling (section)

==== Curbside collection ====
{{Main|Curbside collection}}
[[File:ACT recycling truck.jpg|thumb|left|A recycling truck collecting the contents of a [[recycling bin]] in [[Canberra]], [[Australia]]]]
[[File:Opróżnianie klatki na odpady z tworzyw sztucznych w 60-tysięcznym Tomaszowie Mazowieckim.jpg|thumb|Emptying of segregated rubbish containers in [[Tomaszów Mazowiecki]], Poland]]

Curbside collection encompasses many subtly different systems, which differ mostly on where in the process the recyclates are sorted and cleaned. The main categories are mixed waste collection, commingled recyclables, and source separation.<ref name="gar"/> A [[waste collection vehicle]] generally picks up the waste.

In mixed waste collection, recyclates are collected mixed with the rest of the waste, and the desired materials are sorted out and cleaned at a central sorting facility. This results in a large amount of recyclable waste (especially paper) being too soiled to reprocess, but has advantages as well: The city need not pay for the separate collection of recyclates, no public education is needed, and any changes to the recyclability of certain materials are implemented where sorting occurs.<ref name="gar"/>

In a commingled or [[Single-stream recycling|single-stream system]], [[Recyclable plastic|recyclables]] are mixed but kept separate from non-recyclable waste. This greatly reduces the need for post-collection cleaning, but requires [[public education]] on what materials are recyclable.<ref name="gar" /><ref name="economisttruth"/>

=====Source separation=====
Source separation is the other extreme, where each material is cleaned and sorted prior to collection. It requires the least post-collection sorting and produces the purest recyclates. However, it incurs additional [[operating cost]]s for collecting each material, and requires extensive public education to avoid recyclate [[contamination]].<ref name="gar"/> In [[Oregon]], USA, [[Oregon Department of Environmental Quality|Oregon DEQ]] surveyed multi-family property managers; about half of them reported problems, including contamination of recyclables due to trespassers such as [[homelessness|transients]] gaining access to collection areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregon.gov/deq/FilterDocs/recmultistate.pdf|title=The State of Multi-Tenant Recycling in Oregon|date=April 2018|access-date=26 May 2019|archive-date=26 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526212922/https://www.oregon.gov/deq/FilterDocs/recmultistate.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Source separation used to be the preferred method due to the high cost of sorting commingled (mixed waste) collection. However, advances in sorting technology have substantially lowered this overhead, and many areas that had developed source separation programs have switched to what is called ''co-mingled collection''.<ref name="economisttruth"/>