Smart Recycling
When sorting your throw-away items into landfill trash and recycling, take an extra minute or two and
do a good job of recycling. Doing a good job means following two principles: 1- separate materials
completely, and 2- only recycle clean materials. Tossing things into the recycle without doing these two
things first often means that that thing will just get tossed out again into the trash once it reaches the
recycling facility. The sorters at the facility do not have time to do detailed sorting of the huge amount
of materials that reach them. One dirty item can contaminate a whole batch of otherwise clean
material. Here are a few examples of how to do this:
Your greasy pizza box is not recyclable, but the lid is probably clean. Take a minute to cut off the lid and
put it in the recycle before throwing the rest in the trash.
Merchandise packages made of plastic and cardboard are not recyclable as is. Take a sharp knife and
cut off the clean plastic, then pull off the part that is stuck to the cardboard and throw it in the trash.
You now have clean plastic and clean cardboard that can be recycled.
An old soft drink container with one inch of soda in the bottom is not recyclable as is. Take the cap off
and pour out the soda, then rinse the bottle and cap with water. The cap and the bottle are likely two
different types of plastic, so leave them separate and put both clean plastics in the recycle bin.
Steel food cans are recyclable. Cut off the paper labels and rinse the can and lid before recycling.
A wadded- up fast food sack from your car is not recyclable as is, but if you empty it out, you can recycle
the sack itself, the paper cup, lid and straw (rinse them off). Throw away the greasy burger wrapper and
french fry box.
Plastic sandwich bags are recyclable if clean. Give them a quick wash and hang them up to dry. They
may even be clean enough to use again.
Broken household gadgets, kitchen tools, kid’s toys, etc have many recyclable parts on them. Try to
remove metal parts and screws, batteries, wires or mechanical parts and you are often left with a big
piece of recyclable plastic.
Wash out glass containers and remove lids and labels before recycling.