Unrecyclable recyclables

Did you know that not all recyclables are equal? Improperly sorted plastics can turn all of your recycling efforts into trash, and so can other debris. For this reason, you should avoid trying to recycle these recyclables:

Pizza boxes: After a killer party, you should avoid tossing your empty pizza boxes into the recycling pile. The oil from the pizza (which has surely drenched your pizza boxes) is a contaminant and makes it impossible to turn those boxes into a new, clean, paper product. On its own, cardboard is fine to recycle. But, after it’s covered in pizza grease, it’s not.

Napkins and paper towels: The same reason for not recycling pizza boxes applies here too. The reason you’re tossing those napkins is because they’re contaminated with food, cleaning products, or something else hazardous. Those contaminates can ruin your recycle batch, so toss them in the trash instead.

Wet paper: Unfortunately, even water is a contaminant for otherwise recyclable paper. Ironically, paper is wet during the recycling process. However, if left on the curb, dripping wet and waiting for pickup, the water shortens the fibers of the paper, making it worthless to recycle. If you are recycling paper, make sure to cover it to keep it dry.

Sticky notes, address labels, and stamps: What do these all have in common? Adhesive – yet another contaminate. They also often come in bright colors, which can also complicate the recycling process.

Plastic bottle caps: This is a tricky one. The plastic cap that came with your recyclable plastic bottle is, nine times out of ten, not recyclable. Caps are often made from different plastic than the bottle, which means they cannot be recycled together. Also, plastic caps can jam recycling equipment and cause problems in the compacter. A bottle with the cap screwed on may not compact properly and explode when the plastic is exposed to heat later in the recycling process.

NSU Newsroom

SharkBytes

Horizons

Other NSU News Sources

News Releases Archive

Contact

SharkBytes Archives

SharkBytes Categories

Contact

Unrecyclable recyclables