[scott_russell]

It seems like the obvious problem here is that the "legitimate recycling firms, and the city and other local authorities who take a cut from their sales" should be giving a cut of those sales to the residents and shop owners who are supplying the "beige gold".

[acheron9383]

I see the resale value of the recycling as subsidizing the cost of the recycling service. We pay for,(or your taxes do, depends on where you live) trash/recycling because then someone comes on regular intervals to take it. Part of that cost is "paying" them in the recyclables as well. Honestly the reduced complexity of the current system is nicer then having to pay me back like some sort of recyclables consignment scheme.

[pests]

Right. I thought the whole expectation of a company coming and taking a bunch of waste and recyclables from you for either free or low-cost was that they were profiting from your waste.

[AceJohnny2]

Then you've created a logistics nightmare of tracking who gave what so that they can get their fair share of the cut, and inevitably parasites will emerge to exploit that network too.

Would that be any better?...