These liquid cartons are an infamously confusing recyclable: are they paper? Plastic? Trash? While you can peel the paper labels off of these plastics before recycling them, it isn’t necessary, so save yourself some time and skip that step. New York City, for one, accepts essentially all plastic bottles, jars, jugs, and containers, regardless of number, but not all municipalities are as inclusive most accept at least numbers 1 and 2, but it’s important to know what codes you should divert to the trash instead. #1, for example, is the code for PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) products, like water bottles, and many other containers for oil, soft drinks, etc. Every plastic recyclable will be stamped with a little triangle emblem and a number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, which indicates the type of plastic it’s made from, and ultimately how difficult it is to recycle (1 being the easiest, 7 the hardest). However, the recycling code dictates all. The plastic bin is home to most rigid plastic containers. Correctly separating recycling can prevent some of this waste and make sure all recyclables meet their proper fate. According to David Biderman, CEO and executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), 10-15% of all waste sent to recycling centers in the U.S. So, “wishful” or “aspirational” recycling – that is, wishfully throwing items in the recycling just in case they can be recycled, especially in single-stream recycling – can lead to even more waste. Sometimes, the whole batch is thrown away. However, when a batch is too riddled with trash, it might be too dangerous or costly to sort it out, so it must be sold for a lower price. – all those products stamped with a “made out of recycled material” sticker.
Paper, plastic, glass, and metal are separated and consolidated into bales that are sold, and buyers use the recycled material to create new products, like post-consumer paper, pellets, etc. After dragging your bins out to the curb, they’re taken away by the recycling truck on pick-up day, and the county or municipality pays for it to be brought to recycling plants for processing.
With so many recyclable materials already ending up in landfills, incorrectly recycled items can impact the fate of the small percentage of waste that is recycled.įor our current recycling system to continue functioning, the operation must be profitable. Here are a few pointers on how to recycle those common items – whether it be a pizza box, toothpaste tube, or hairspray can – that have you stumped. New York City even has a search tool to find common products and how they should be disposed of, and most counties will have this information on their website. It is always necessary to check your regional recycling rules, as the specifications for individual items vary widely. While recycling is not the end-all-be-all of waste reduction, it is an important tool for keeping waste out of landfills. Because there are no universal rules for recycling – which is handled by individual counties and municipalities – the process is extremely complex and variable.
Some of this waste, however, comes from incorrect sorting on the part of the consumer. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that only 10% of all plastic thrown in recycling bins over the last 40 years has actually been recycled. Of this waste, 69 million tons were recycled and 25 million tons were composted, amounting to a meager 32.1% recycling and composting rate.įurthermore, the U.S.
in a single year: 4.9 pounds per person per day. Fast forward to 2018, when 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste were generated in the U.S. The oil and gas industries – producers of virgin plastic – spent millions on advertising in the 80s to advocate for recycling, knowing that it wouldn’t be a large-scale solution to our waste problem and would encourage consumers to purchase more plastic. is far from perfect, and recycling is often used as a scapegoat to justify overconsumption. Can I put this pizza box in with the cardboard? What about that oat milk container? Does this envelope have plastic in it?
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