Scanner in the compactor

[Staffwoman]

I heard through the grapevine that corporate will be installing an AI system to the compactor that can detect what is being thrown away ... plastic, styrofoam, cardboard.

I assume it's to cut down on cardboard being compacted.

As I'm listening to the person telling me, all I can think is ... and yet we don't recycle any plastic here.

Ih that's right, Target doesn't make any money off recycling plastic just baled cardboard.

It's good the company isn't lying to the public about that. Oh wait, they are.

 

[allnew2]

I heard through the grapevine that corporate will be installing an AI system to the compactor that can detect what is being thrown away ... plastic, styrofoam, cardboard.

I assume it's to cut down on cardboard being compacted.

As I'm listening to the person telling me, all I can think is ... and yet we don't recycle any plastic here.

Ih that's right, Target doesn't make any money off recycling plastic just baled cardboard.

It's good the company isn't lying to the public about that. Oh wait, they are.

We do plastic recycle and also bottles too .

 

[Staffwoman]

We do plastic recycle and also bottles too .

My store doesn't. Never seen it happen in the 6 years I've been here. Lying to the people who bring in recyclables for the stations up front. But no one cares about that. But put a piece of cardboard in the compactor and Skynet will know.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

My store doesn't. Never seen it happen in the 6 years I've been here. Lying to the people who bring in recyclables for the stations up front. But no one cares about that. But put a piece of cardboard in the compactor and Skynet will know.

You just have shitty district and store leadership. Target recycles just because your store doesn’t.

 

[sunnydays]

i heard through the grapevine that they are replacing tarbux with burger king

 

[gsa4lyfe]

i heard through the grapevine that they are replacing tarbux with burger king

Never ever would they do that

 

[InboundDCguy]

I heard through the grapevine that corporate will be installing an AI system to the compactor that can detect what is being thrown away ... plastic, styrofoam, cardboard.

I assume it's to cut down on cardboard being compacted.

As I'm listening to the person telling me, all I can think is ... and yet we don't recycle any plastic here.

Ih that's right, Target doesn't make any money off recycling plastic just baled cardboard.

It's good the company isn't lying to the public about that. Oh wait, they are.

I doubt Target really profits from recycling, if they do then the amount is negligible.
For instance:
Say a bale of cardboard weighs 400lb, which I think is high but as a safe number.
At $100/ton, a bale’s recycled value is $20.
Minus the 25% cut the middle man is going to take. Down to $15 that would be paid to Target for that bale.
Now that $15 would have to more than cover all of the time that’s put into collecting the cardboard, building that bale, and moving it around until it’s on the recycling company’s trailer. My assumption is they’re losing money on every bale.

Probably losing a lot on recycling plastic bags.

Metal might be a wash, probably profitable but there’s so much brand new stuff that gets sent there it’s ridiculous.

Cans/bottles is probably the only recycling program that they actually turn a profit on because it takes the least work to get it from A to B, they don’t have a financial stake in any of the things being recycled, etc.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

I doubt Target really profits from recycling, if they do then the amount is negligible.
For instance:
Say a bale of cardboard weighs 400lb, which I think is high but as a safe number.
At $100/ton, a bale’s recycled value is $20.
Minus the 25% cut the middle man is going to take. Down to $15 that would be paid to Target for that bale.
Now that $15 would have to more than cover all of the time that’s put into collecting the cardboard, building that bale, and moving it around until it’s on the recycling company’s trailer. My assumption is they’re losing money on every bale.

Probably losing a lot on recycling plastic bags.

Metal might be a wash, probably profitable but there’s so much brand new stuff that gets sent there it’s ridiculous.

Cans/bottles is probably the only recycling program that they actually turn a profit on because it takes the least work to get it from A to B, they don’t have a financial stake in any of the things being recycled, etc.

It’s either make money from a bale or pay for trash. The bake it self might not give them that much money but not putting it in the trash saves a ton.

 

[Fix It]

I’ll clarify where this came from, they can’t scan a compactor like that. It’s an armor plated barrel lol. If they really want to go through it they’ll send a Compliance Director to the dump to physically sift through it.

The AI thing comes from an audit done once a week where a simple picture looking in to the compactor to HQ. They’re working on a program that will look through the photos and identify cardboard. If the program thinks it sees cardboard it sends a warning email to the store and other leaders. The program is still being developed. There are a few AI programs like that in the works to simplify compliance and record keeping.

The company’s goal is to be Energy Star compliant so the company pays less fees and penalties to the government. Recycling does give back a few million dollars every year, free money and helping the environment isn’t a bad thing

 

[Staffwoman]

I’ll clarify where this came from, they can’t scan a compactor like that. It’s an armor plated barrel lol. If they really want to go through it they’ll send a Compliance Director to the dump to physically sift through it.

The AI thing comes from an audit done once a week where a simple picture looking in to the compactor to HQ. They’re working on a program that will look through the photos and identify cardboard. If the program thinks it sees cardboard it sends a warning email to the store and other leaders. The program is still being developed. There are a few AI programs like that in the works to simplify compliance and record keeping.

The company’s goal is to be Energy Star compliant so the company pays less fees and penalties to the government. Recycling does give back a few million dollars every year, free money and helping the environment isn’t a bad thing

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[SoCalMama]

Hmm. I worked at Tarbucks. We had separate trash cans for trash and recycleables. Then they all were combined into the trash dumpster by the cleaning crew. So, at MY Southern California Target store, they do not recycle anything anymore. They never did. We had those divided Starbucks trash cans. In reality, we put it all in the trash together every night.

They used to take bottles and cans for CRV. They would store them in the (Closed) garden center. People would steal them at night and re-sell them back to us at Guest Services. Every. single. day.

 

[Staffwoman]

Hmm. I worked at Tarbucks. We had separate trash cans for trash and recycleables. Then they all were combined into the trash dumpster by the cleaning crew. So, at MY Southern California Target store, they do not recycle anything anymore. They never did. We had those divided Starbucks trash cans. In reality, we put it all in the trash together every night.

They used to take bottles and cans for CRV. They would store them in the (Closed) garden center. People would steal them at night and re-sell them back to us at Guest Services. Every. single. day.

Sad it's just not at my store.

 

[BurgerBob]

i heard through the grapevine that they are replacing tarbux with burger king

I wish

 

[Luck]

I doubt Target really profits from recycling, if they do then the amount is negligible.
For instance:
Say a bale of cardboard weighs 400lb, which I think is high but as a safe number.
At $100/ton, a bale’s recycled value is $20.
Minus the 25% cut the middle man is going to take. Down to $15 that would be paid to Target for that bale.
Now that $15 would have to more than cover all of the time that’s put into collecting the cardboard, building that bale, and moving it around until it’s on the recycling company’s trailer. My assumption is they’re losing money on every bale.

Probably losing a lot on recycling plastic bags.

Metal might be a wash, probably profitable but there’s so much brand new stuff that gets sent there it’s ridiculous.

Cans/bottles is probably the only recycling program that they actually turn a profit on because it takes the least work to get it from A to B, they don’t have a financial stake in any of the things being recycled, etc.

Recycling cardboard gives the hidden profit of cheaper items in general. Cardboard is a major hidden cost for retail. All major corporations including Target have high interest in keeping cardboard prices as low as possible.

I heard through the grapevine that corporate will be installing an AI system to the compactor that can detect what is being thrown away ... plastic, styrofoam, cardboard.

I assume it's to cut down on cardboard being compacted.

As I'm listening to the person telling me, all I can think is ... and yet we don't recycle any plastic here.

Ih that's right, Target doesn't make any money off recycling plastic just baled cardboard.

It's good the company isn't lying to the public about that. Oh wait, they are.

The DC has plastic balers just the same way you have cardboard ones. You are supposed to have a trash bin with a clear plastic bag that you empty clear plastics into, and toss the accumulated full bags of plastic onto the truck for sweeps. We take them and combine them all into bales and ship them off for recycling.

 

[ThreeCreeks]

I doubt Target really profits from recycling, if they do then the amount is negligible.
For instance:
Say a bale of cardboard weighs 400lb, which I think is high but as a safe number.
At $100/ton, a bale’s recycled value is $20

We get $80/bale.... Stores might be different but yeah.

 

[Staffwoman]

Recycling cardboard gives the hidden profit of cheaper items in general. Cardboard is a major hidden cost for retail. All major corporations including Target have high interest in keeping cardboard prices as low as possible.


The DC has plastic balers just the same way you have cardboard ones. You are supposed to have a trash bin with a clear plastic bag that you empty clear plastics into, and toss the accumulated full bags of plastic onto the truck for sweeps. We take them and combine them all into bales and ship them off for recycling.

Yes, I know. We did that at my old store. But at my current store, I haven't seen it done in 6 years. I've said something to consecutive pml/pnmt's since they are the ones who religiously talk about no cardboard in the baler. Nothing ever has been done.

 

[GRC]

The AI thing comes from an audit done once a week where a simple picture looking in to the compactor to HQ. They’re working on a program that will look through the photos and identify cardboard. If the program thinks it sees cardboard it sends a warning email to the store and other leaders. The program is still being developed. There are a few AI programs like that in the works to simplify compliance and record keeping.

I wonder how well that will work. Practically every day in grocery I have to put at least a couple boxes in the compactor, because of cases having a leaking/damaged product staining the box.

 

[Fix It]

I wonder how well that will work. Practically every day in grocery I have to put at least a couple boxes in the compactor, because of cases having a leaking/damaged product staining the box.

Right, that’s best practice. To be real my store is pretty good about keeping cardboard out. If I find it I’ll just toss another bag of garbage on it to hide it. 😬