Is trash really that complicated?

Candice is always telling me I need to write a post on the dumb story of the day I bring home from work, so here is a quick one. The supply is endless, but unfortunately my time is not....

Saturday I had my waste contractor bring in a crew to catch up on things they did not get to through the week (their cost) and to help out, the housekeeping team lent me a few people. 2 of them were just general laborers, and since most of what I needed done involved equipment, I sent them into the plant to collect recyclables... little caps and plugs, pieces of metal, etc. It is a program we recently started here to reduce our waste and save a little money, but most importantly to me, lets everyone in the plant participate in something environmental.

Anyway, I explain to these 2 that they must take the trolley (cart) with baskets to empty the containers along the production line. When they got everything back to the recycling area, they needed to separate plastics into types so we can sell it. There are examples so it is not that complicated. I showed them the container for metal as well.

I figured it would take them about 2 hours, so after 2 hours I went to find them. The first thing I notice is that instead of dumping the CONTENTS of the recycling collection containers into the baskets on the cart and returning the empty can to where the got it, they instead put the entire can in the basket and brought it back to the recycling area. There were like 20 buckets all over the place.

Me: "Guys, do you know where these containers go (on the line)"?
Them: "No Mr. Joel"

@$#%!!

Next I notice they are not only separating the types of plastic, but they are sorting the metal pieces by type. Short silver screws, long silver screws, short brass screws, metal brackets, etc. Knowing the answer before I looked, I walked to the metal collection container and sure enough, small little piles of metal by type. They were segregating the metal by type, only to mix it back together again in the metal bin!

If it were the UAW, I would know they were doing it on purpose, but these poor souls are just not that bright. No matter how simple I try and keep things, they always seem to amaze me with a new way to screw it up :)

They would jump off a bridge if I asked them to, but wow, I can't rely on them for anything if it involves thinking for themselves, lol.