Are you a “wishcycler”? It’s tempting to add items to your recycling bin that you’re not sure are recyclable. Unfortunately, items that don’t belong make it harder, and even dangerous, to sort into useful feedstock. This devalues the good material, and drives costs up.
Here’s a simple checklist to make sure you’re recycling the right materials. Make sure what goes in the bin doesn’t just take a long trip to the landfill.
Wet materials stick to each other and can’t be properly sorted. Glass shards stuck to paper is especially troublesome.
Dirty material mucks up everything around it, is sticky, and can stink up the whole load. Most material travels a distance, sometimes in extreme heat. Think ketchup. And hungry critters.
Pull cardboard out of overwrap, foam packing out of boxes.
Paper can’t be made from plastic. Plastic can’t be made from metal. End users can deal with tape, windows and labels, but not items that have multiple materials stuck together.
Multi-layered materials like milk cartons, and various materials stuck together like cardboard coffee cans with metal tops and bottoms can’t efficiently be deconstructed into their recyclable components.
Containers smaller than 3 oz. often fall through the first screen with the glass. Think prescription and nip bottles.
Paper and cardboard should be flat (2 dimensional).
Bottles, cans and plastic containers should NOT be flat, or they might end up in paper bales.
Foam packing and shredded paper get into everything. Flattened bottles and cans may sort with the paper.
Bottles, tubs, clear cups and yogurt-type containers are the ONLY plastics with value in the single stream.
Non-containers, black plastic, and plastics labelled #3, #4, #6 and #7 may be trashed after a long detour through the sorting plant.
Many bags and wraps, tubes, pouches etc. can be brought to drop offs at supermarkets and department stores.
Plastic bags, metal hangers, ribbons, string lights, etc. get tangled in the sorting equipment, creating hazards and causing costly shutdowns.
