Learn recycling rules

How many of us take the time to read the information for our local recycling service?  It’s important to know what can and cannot be included, because putting the wrong things into a recycling stream can ruin an entire batch of recyclable materials, requiring it to be thrown away instead of processed for re-use.  Don’t try to sneak forbidden things in, because your item could be the cause of a rejected batch.  You can usually find the lists on a website associated with your curbside pickup or posted on the sides of the bins at a drop-off area.  Recycling done right is a big help to the environment.  Recycling mistakes reduce the cost-effectiveness of recycling and may lead a manufacturer to stop using recycled materials.  A few examples of how “slipping something in” can ruin a batch:​

1. Pizza boxes are made from corrugated cardboard, so it would be tempting to add them to the cardboard recycling bin. However, once the cardboard is soiled with grease and food, the cardboard cannot be recycled because the paper fibers will not be able to be separated from the oils during the pulping process. Food is a major source of contamination in paper and cardboard recycling.
2. Plastic bag recycling involves chipping the bags into pellets. Anything left inside the bags, such as receipts, stickers or food is a contaminant.  Too many contaminants can make a batch unusable.
3. Heavily dyed, Astro-Bright, and neon papers are NOT Recyclable because of the chemicals used in the dye.  Don’t include them in your paper recycling.  
4. Be careful what you put in single-steam recycling bins.  Some forbidden items are just nuisances that have to be sorted out and landfilled.  Other forbidden items can ruin many acceptable items in the same bin.  For example, a printer toner cartridge tossed into a single-stream recycling bin could break open and get ink all on all the rest of the items.