Earth Day

Do you know what can and what cannot be recycled where you live?

Posted 4/12/22

Most people are concerned about keeping the planet clean and are willing to recycle.

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Earth Day

Do you know what can and what cannot be recycled where you live?

Posted

Do you know what can and what cannot be recycled where you live?

Most people are concerned about keeping the planet clean and are willing to recycle. But not everyone knows how to go about it. For example, did you know you cannot recycle that pizza box your pizza delivery driver just brought you? Once an item is dirty, it is no longer recyclable unless it can be cleaned.

Here is a short quiz to see how recycling savvy you are.

  1. Can you recycle broken plastic hangers?
  2. Can you recycle the plastic bags from grocery stores?
  3. If I recycle a mayonnaise jar with a little mayo left in the bottom, is that OK?
  4. Are the things in my recycling bin still OK to recycle if someone spills coke on them?
  5. Can I put all my recyclables in a plastic bag and throw that in the bin?
  6. Can we recycle used napkins or paper towels?
  7. Can I put an old tire in my recycling bin?
  8. Can I put a rug in my bin? It’s in great condition.
  9. Are Styrofoam cups and food trays recyclable?
  10. Is it OK to put scrap metal in my recycling bin?

Answers

  1. No, not everything that is plastic is recyclable. Hoses, holiday lights, hangers and extension cords — They can wrap around equipment and shut down an entire facility.
  2. Plastic bags are a huge “no-no.” They get caught in the machinery and can shut down the recycling facilities. They should be taken back to the stores to be recycled.
  3. If you have a little bit of mayonnaise in the bottom of your jar, and it doesn’t get on anything else, they will throw away the mayo jar but nothing else because the mayo is contaminating the jar but did not contaminate anything else in the bin.
  4. See question 3. Anything dirty or contaminated will be thrown away.
  5. No, they do not have the manpower to take things out of the bag and sort through it and would throw the entire bag away.
  6. Many people think these are OK because they are paper, but once you have wiped your mouth on them, they are contaminated. These should be composted if possible.
  7. Tires, auto parts and scrap metal cannot be recycled curbside.
  8. If they are in good condition, donate them. Otherwise, dispose of them.
  9. Foam and plastic to-go containers are not recyclable curbside.
  10. Tires, auto parts and scrap metal cannot be recycled curbside.

According to Waste Management, the things we should concentrate on recycling are plastic bottles and containers, food and beverage containers, paper, flattened cardboard, food and beverage cartons and glass bottles and containers, but don’t forget to rinse these containers out. You don’t have to wash them, but they have to be rinsed out or they can’t be used.

It may seem like a lot of extra work to wash out bottles, jars and cans, but think about it, If your goal is to recycle it’s worth taking an extra moment to take these steps so the things you thought you were recycling do not end up in a landfill.

Earth Day, recycling

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