Pots and pans that are no longer needed must be brought to a recycling center and not placed in curbside bins.Ĭardboard can be recycled, but most districts require it to be dry and free of grease stains. You can also recycle glass jars and bottles. Many districts accept clean foil pouches and aluminum foil. Again, they need to be clean of any stuck-on food. Even better, skip pods completely and invest in a French press or pour-over coffee maker that doesn’t require a coffee filter. Fill it with your preferred coffee, make your cup, and compost the grounds when you’re done. If you own a pod-style coffee maker, purchase a reusable pod. Most have bins in the front entrance or bottle redemption area where you can drop these items. You should save them and bring them with you to your grocery store. Plastic wrap, plastic grocery bags, plastic mailers, and bubble wrap/mailing materials are not. Buckets are usually not recycled through curbside pick up. They do have to be cleaned of stuck-on foods. Plastics bottles, tubs, and jars are often recyclable. If you have curbside service, your company should have a guide on its website or a guide on the lid of your recycling bin. General Rules for RecyclingĬheck your local waste district’s rules on recycling. Repairs and maintenance are expensive and slow down the processing cycle. Plastic bags are notorious for causing jams. ![]() In plants where recyclables are separated by machines, the machines may jam or break. The extra trucking ends up driving up fees and/or taxes. Items that should have been placed in the trash are set aside and trucks have to take them to the landfill. ![]() Workers may have to sort recyclables by hand. Too many warnings can lead to your curbside service being halted. What happens if you put items in the recycling bin that shouldn’t be? In some areas, you’ll be issued a warning. Tupperware and other plastic storage containers are also often put in recycling bins, but they’re a type of plastic that few places accept. Small plastic lids, styrofoam, and plastic bags also cannot go into curbside containers. People also often wish-cycle mixed plastics, which cannot be melted down and reused. While some districts may accept greasy cardboard, many more do not accept them. Pizza boxes are one of the more common ones. Clean items processed with that greasy package or stuck-on food is contaminated by the foreign substance, so the entire batch is now useless. It impacts the quality of recycled materials made at a later time. It’s cardboard, that can be recycled as paper right? Again, the greasy residue left behind is no good. The cardboard container your burger and fries came in. Take the time to scrub the jar with a brush to remove the peanut butter and it is recyclable. ![]() Forming new plastics with burned scraps of food would lead to contaminated plastic, which is no good. Melting down the plastic requires hot temperatures that can scorch the stuck-on food. Recyclables must be cleaned of stuck-on foods. The truth is that it can’t in this state. It’s an item made from recyclable plastic, so it can be recycled. Imagine you have a peanut butter jar that still has stuck on peanut butter at the very bottom. While one location may be able to take styrofoam packaging and turn it into insulation, the equipment needed may not be found in your area. Each district has its own rules and available equipment. Something may have a recycling symbol on it and not be recyclable in your area. The items that people wish-cycle are usually things you would expect can be recycled. Worse, it can impact recycling at a later processing point. Instead, your good intentions end up costing recycling companies more time and money. You wish or hope that something you’ve bought or use regularly can be recycled. Wish-cycling is the practice of recycling items that cannot be recycled.
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