How to Recycle Properly

Do you recycle properly?  I thought I was recycling properly and it turns out I wasn't.  I took the liberty of researching proper recycling and took the guesswork out of it for you.  You're welcome.

There are five main groups of material that can be recycled.  Make sure to check with your municipal waste company to be sure what is recycled in your area. 

Paper:  Newspaper, envelopes, junk mail, phone books, brochures, magazines.  Paper should be flat and dry.  Envelopes should have the plastic window separated and bubble wrap removed before recycling, if applicable.  Items cannot have mixed materials. 

Aluminum and metal:  Beverage cans, food cans, scrap metal.  Remove paper or plastic labels first.  Make sure it is empty, rinsed, clean, and dry.  

Cardboard:  Ream wrappers, file folders, poster board, frozen food boxes, cardboard boxes, milk cartons.  Cardboard should be flattened.

Plastic:  Water bottles, pop bottles, take out containers.  Make sure your items are empty, rinsed, clean, and dry.  Plastic lids and caps should be replaced before recycling because a loose lid or cap can jam the machines and the people who have to un-jam the machines will curse your very existence.

Glass:  Glass bottles, everything glass.  Remove plastic or paper label, if possible.  Make sure it is empty, rinsed, clean, and dry.

Items smaller than a credit card cannot be recycled.  Items this small will jam the sorting machines and cause backups.  Place each item in your bin alone.  Don't stuff smaller things into a box, bag, or container.  The machines can't sort a bunch of crap that is stuffed together.  Keep things separated and loose.  No mixed materials, like a box with a plastic window, it needs to be physically separated before being recycled.  Take the time to rinse out containers and let them dry.  One dirty item can contaminate an entire truckload of recyclables.  

Common items that people put into their recycling bin that cannot be recycled:

Plastic bags, wrappers, Styrofoam, greasy pizza boxes, electronics, batteries, yard waste, food, diapers, soiled paper, clothing, shoes, toys, tools, construction waste, and medical supplies.  Plastic bags can be dropped off at Target and Lunds to be recycled.

Itching to learn more about recycling?  Check out these two sites:

RecyclingSimplified.com

How2Recycle.info