re: #108 calochortus

Yes, but the quote specifically mentioned “households” so businesses and processing after it is collected don’t come into it.
As for time carrying the stuff to the curb and bringing the bins back in, wouldn’t you have to take the stuff to the street, or somewhere, if it was trash? Most driveways are much shorter, and it just couldn’t come close to 45 minutes a week on the average.

The “households” was simple division, the article also specifies 90 million man-hours per week for the whole country (just under 20 minutes per person). So I’m assuming that includes the collection and transport and reprocessing.