Recycling is complicated.
What started out as a simple weekly process has turned into a guessing game in which we never really spend the time to get the answers. The problem is, the answers depend on where you live. Looking up a recycling question in a search engine might give you conflicting information.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 75% of waste is recyclable but ony 34% is actually recycled. Why is that? It’s complicated.
Recycling Contamination is a big culprit and that falls on the people who are putting materials into the system. It isn’t an easy job to know exactly what is and is not accepted in your catchment and many people don’t know how to properly prepare the materials for recycling.
It is important that everybody finds THEIR local recycling authority to determine exactly what they can recycle in which bin. Most cities and towns have great resources on the subject but the number of specific products with varied packaging out there leave a gap in the answers. For example, in North Vancouver I can use the online recycling form to see what can be picked up curbside. This is specific to the actual trucks that haul away my waste. But there are other items that I can recycle on a regular basis that do not get collected curbside so I can check other items at RecycleBC‘s website.
I spent hours making a list of the things that I guess at when I am faced with the issue of which of my 6 recycling bins I should place something in. I then used my local recycling program’s online form to find out if I can include the item in my curbside pickup bin. Not all of the specific products I had questioned were in the database so I had to phone the recycling hotline to get the answers.
I was surprised by some of the answers I got. I have been so dedicated and conscientious over the year and still I was making mistakes.
So I’ve put together a guide with the specific products I wondered about. I hope this helps you!
There are 5 different types of mistakes that are commonly made with the process of recycling household packaging and items.
- properly preparing the materials first
- securing items inside a plastic bag before putting into the bin
- “Wish-Cycling” – putting in items that do not belong
- not putting in items that are recyclable
- separating items for the non-curbside recycling facilities
How To Prepare Materials For Recycling
The most important step to prepare your items for recycling is to wash them. That means you have to get the peanut butter totally out of the container before putting it into your bin! Municipalities all over the world share this important rule. If there is food in the containers, the batch can be contaminated and will end up in the landfill.
The contamination rate in Toronto is 26%! In 2019, American West Coast communities, who take a very active role in recycling had an inbound contamination rate of is 16.9%. The cart programs seem to be more problematic than the bin/bag programs.
Boxes should also be cleaned somewhat – that is any tape, staples, stickers and labels should be removed before folding them up. Sometimes shipping boxes have a plastic bag with an address printout inside. These need to be ripped off before going into recycling.
There are differing rules about what to do with lids. In my area, we are told to remove the lids from the glass jars and plastic bottles. Most modern recycling programs do not require that you remove the labels from metal cans. The paper that is used on those cans is usually end of life and cannot be recycled further. Paper has a limited number of times it can be recycled.
Lids and other small items like the tabs found on a can of soda do not make it through to the proper place even if they are a recyclable material in most municipalities. A rule of thumb is that anything smaller than a pot-it note should not go into the bin. You can bring these items to a drop off centre instead.
Many areas with single stream recycling programs allow people to combine all of the materials into the same bin. A common mistake that people make here is that they use a plastic bag to organize types of materials together. These plastic bags cannot be recycled or opened at a facility so they will end up in the landfill.
Another issue with the single stream recycling is that if the paper products get wet when sitting next to a freshly cleaned plastic bottle it is contaminated.
“Wish-Cycling” Putting In Things That Don’t Belong
We are all doing our best to recycle because we want to do the right thing and we want to make the world a better place. When we don’t have great choices about how we bring packaging into our homes, we try to recycle everything. But everything cannot be recycled.
But it is better to follow the rule of thumb “when in doubt, throw it out”. Accidentally contaminating a batch of plastic bottles with some peanut butter causes the whole batch to go to the landfill.
Let’s get to that list that I promised you. Here are common items that get put into the recycling curbside programs when they do not belong. They are in no particular order:
Coffee Cups, Pods, Packaging
There are many waste products involved with coffee. Single use coffee cups – “paper” cups – are a problem. 2,700,000 coffee cups are disposed of every day!
In some areas (like BC), it is OK to put coffee cups into the blue bin but this is rare. The cups must be rinsed and the lid needs to be removed. Most jurisdictions in North America do not allow “paper” coffee cups in their curbside pick up. This is a confusing point and many people add coffee cups to their bins which can cause contamination for a whole load of good recyclable material.
There is also a problem with coffee cup lids in most places. Even though they have a recycle symbol on them, they are too small and they do not get sorted properly at the recycling facility. You can bring these into a recycling depot to be recycled or as The City of Calgary recommends, just throw them in the garbage.
Some people use pods to make their coffee. These pods are said to be recyclable but they cannot go in the curbside bins. This is a big point of confusion and they end up ruining loads of good recycling all the time.
If you make coffee at home you are probably purchasing beans in a plastic pouch. These pouches cannot go in the curbside program either, they need to be dropped at a recycling facility.
Tea
Most tea that is made at home comes in a cardboard box with each tea bag individually wrapped. These wrappers do not belong in the paper recycling even though they appear to be paper on the outside.
Other types of tea, like Tetley, sometimes come in a round cylindrical containers. These are mixed materials and do not belong in most curbside programs. BC Recycles does accept them though. So in BC you CAN include these.
Broken Cookware
Not all types of glass are the same. Glass jars and bottles boil at different temperatures than wine glasses and glass cookware. So when you break a piece of cookware in your home, you cannot include this in the curbside bin.
Ice Cream Cartons
Frozen food containers like ice cream cartons are very difficult to recycle. They are made with several layers that need to be separated. If you can’t avoid cream in these packages (there are other packaging choices), IN MOST AREAS you need to throw these in the garbage. However, I just spoke to a recycling expert at Recycle BC (British Columbia Canada) who said they now take these in the curbside collection!
Candle Jars
Some candle jars would be find in curbside pickup, if they are made of soda-lime glass. Others like YankeeCandle have a return program with a refund and cannot be included in your bin. You can check with your local recycling program to find out.
Greasy Pizza Boxes
Nope, you cannot include a greasy pizza box in your recycling. If one side of the box is not spoiled you can break it apart and include the clean side in the paper recycling. Otherwise, if you have an organics pick up service, you can cut it into small pieces and include it with the compost.
Hangers
Plastic and metal hangers are not allowed in curbside pick up programs. They may be collected at a drop off location or if they are in good shape they can be donated to thrift stores.
Books
Magazines and phone books are accepted in most curbside programs but a paper back or hard cover book should not be included. There are places for these to be dropped off for recycling like at the transfer station.
The paper from a notepad can be recycled bu the spiral ring needs to be removed first and if it is plastic it has to go in the garbage.
Binders
You can remove the rings from the middle and put them in with your metal recycling but the vinyl is not recyclable.
Markers / Highlighters / Pens
Markers, highlighters and pens can be recycled in some places BUT NOT in the curbside bins. Some Staples locations have TerraCycle boxes to collect these items. Otherwise you can collect them and ship them to Crayola (they have some programs where they actually reimburse you the shipping costs).
Jewelry Cases
Those little boxes that a piece of jewelery comes in with the padding and hinge cannot be recycled in a curbside program. Apparentely there is high demand for these little boxes at thrift stores so be sure to take them there.
Shredded Paper
In most places shredded paper is problematic in household recycling programs. It is too small and gets mixed in with the wrong recycling stream or makes a mess on the floor at the recycling facilties. In my recycling program, it is accepted (Vancouver has a very progressive facility) but I have to stuff it into a cardboard box first.
Straws
No! Straws cannot be recycled in the curbside program. They are garbage.
Toothbrushes
Plastic toothbrushes cannot be included in the curbside bin. They are made of three different materials: plastic, nylon and a staple. There are programs that do collect, take apart and recycle toothbrushes.
For the toothpaste and toothbrush recycling program, you may get points or even cash back. Take the time to learn with brands of toothpaste are more recyclable. The act of precycling is when you choose to purchase products that have a better chance of being recycled.
Deodorant Containers
Although it seems like a deodorant container is made from a recyclable plastic, it is complicated. Most packaging is made of a combination of plastic types. As well, there is usually a high amount of residue remaining in these containers which cause recycling contamination. They are working on solutions to this problem but should be put in the garbage at this time.
Soap Pumps
Liquid soap containers can be recycled if they are cleaned and the pump is removed first. The pumps are made from plastic, metal spring and a little piece of glass. This cannot go in the curbside bins.
Take Out Containers
Plastic take out containers are allowed in curbside bins but for some reason people don’t seem to clean them out first so they cause contamination in the recycling system. Be sure to clean them first!
In some areas, black plastic cannot be included in curbside programs because the market for black recycled plastics is too low.
There are also take out containers that are labelled compostable. Check with your local recycling program to see if these can go in your city organics cart but these usually need to be dropped at a special location to be composted.
Paper Chip Bags
Tortilla chip bag that appear to be paper cannot be included in curbside recycline. These bags are lined with plastic and need to be dropped at a special depot so they can be properly separated and recycled.
Diapers
Apparently this is a common mistake, but diapers cannot be included in ANY recycling. In fact, in my area it is recommended that flush any solid waste down the toilet before throwing the used diaper in the garbage so it doesn’t contaminate the landfill.
Eating utensils
Plastic forks, spoons and knives cannot be recycled through the curbside program. They are too small and cause problems in the sorting process. 40 billion plastic utensils are used every year in the US alone!
Paper Towels
Spoiled paper towels often get put into the paper recycling instead of the organics bins.
Medication Bottles
These little pill bottles are too small to be properly sorted and the darker plastic is not often accepted curbside. If you have many of these you can take them to the pharmacy that you purchased them from or get a TerraCycle box to send them away fro proper handling.
Single Serve Yogurt Containers
Small yogurt containers are too small for many curbside programs and they end up in the glass bin after the sorting process from the single stream recycling programs.
Also, these are commonly the culprit for contamination because they don’t get fully cleaned out.
Paper Receipts
This one might surprise you but the receipt that you get from most stores might contain Bisphenol A (BPA). This causes the paper stream to be contaminated with BPA as well and they should not be included with your paper recyling. In the recent past, MANY retailers in Canada have switched their receipts to paper that does not contain BPA. In BC, you are allowed to put receipts in the paper recycling because stores have paper receipts but if you live somewhere else, you should find out. When in doubt throw it out.
Items That Should Get Recycled That Do NOT
Often the recycling mistakes that are made are because items are not included in the recycling program that have a high success rate of being recycled.
Tetra Packs
Milk cartons and juice containers are made from many layers of materials but they are highly recyclable. These can be included in most recycling programs.
Shampoo Bottles and Cleaning Products
I was surprised to learn that many people don’t even think about recycling their bathroom products. Shampoo, soap and cleaning product bottles can be included as long as they are empty, clean and do not include any pumps or sprayers.
Aluminum Foil
Clean aluminum foil is allowed and highly recyclable. If you have smaller pieces of aluminium like from chocolate eggs, you can save it up and make a bigger ball to be included when it is big enough.
Food Storage Containers
Plastic food storage containers like Tupperware can be recycled in your curbside program (as long as they are clean). many people simply throw these away.
Aerosol Spray Cans
Aerosol spray cans like whipping cream can be recycled in your blue bin. Make sure they are totally empty first.
Materials That Can Go To A Special Facility
There are many other materials that can be recycled that are not collected at your curb. These can be dropped off atspecial recycling facilities in all major cities.
Soft Plastics
Plastic shopping bags, bread bags, over wrap from toilet paper and so on, can be recycled.
Clothing and Textiles
There is a big movement to reuse clothing and textiles. If you cannot include your clothes in a clothing swap or donate them, you can at least recycle them. This goes for sheets and towels and other materials. The resources involved in growing, making and dying new materials is carbon heavy and pollutes waterways.
Razors
Disposable razor blades don’t have to be fully disposable! More than 2 billion razors are thrown away each year. There are companies that have programs to recycle razor blades. Some stores like WholeFoods even have collection bins in their stores. Apparently most of the environmental impact from shaving comes from leaving the hot water running while shaving.
Zip Lock Baggies
Zip Lock and other zippered baggies can be included with your soft plastic bags and returned to a special depot.
Bubble Wrap Envelopes
If you are a customer from Amazon, you are no stranger to bubble wrap envelopes. These can be collected and dropped of at your local recycling depot.
Chip Bags
Chip bags and other crinkly shiny bags can be recycled at a drop off depot.
Toothpaste Tubes
Toothpaste tubes are not easily recycled but there are some toothpaste companies that do just that. You can drop them off at a dentist or orthodontist near you or you can order a TerraCycle box to collect them and mail them to a place that will recycle them. They get shredded and then washed with water and a biocide and reused to make more toothpaste tubes.
I hope this has been helpful in your recycling journey. Feel free to comment if you have specific products that you would like me to figure out for you! And of course it is better to avoid these problems all together with a zero waste lifestyle!
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