What can be recycled?

What can be recycled?

I recently listened to a podcast about recycling. It answered a lot of questions for me so I thought I’d share the key points.
1. All types of plastic bags (bags from cereal boxes, cracker boxes, bags apples come in, ziplock bags) can ALL be recycled by bringing them back to your grocery store. Most grocery stores have a spot in the entrance way to deposit them. This includes the film that comes around paper towels, napkins, toilet paper and bubble wrap. So having a system in your home for collecting all this plastic and returning to the store in a good idea.
2. Anything smaller than 2 inches should never be put into your curbside recycle bin. Plastic bottle caps should be screwed back on the bottles before they are recycled.
3. Alkaline batteries CANNOT be recycled anywhere (they must be thrown away). An alternative is to only buy rechargeable batteries and purchase a recharger. Button batteries and lithium batteries can be recycled by bringing them to Eco Park.
4. Shipping envelopes that are Manila and lined with bubble wrap, CANNOT be recycled. Try to reuse them.
5. Old computers, Christmas lights, old phones, even artificial metal Christmas trees can all be recycled by bringing them to Eco Park.
6. To recycle bicycles you can bring them RCommunity Bikes and they will repair and repurpose them.
7. Pizza boxes with grease and food particles can not be recycled. Cut off the grease spots, clean away the food and the rest can be recycled curbside.
8. Paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls and wrapping paper rolls can all be recycled curbside.
9. Old clothes that are ripped and too worn out to donate are accepted at Eco Park.
10. Used cooking oil is accepted at Eco Park.
11. Styrofoam peanuts are NOT recyclable (even at Eco Park). But large pieces of styrofoam that an appliance might come in is accepted there.
12. Envelopes with windows and tissue boxes with plastic can be recycled curbside without removing the plastic.
13. Cardboard should be flattened and dry to have it recycled curbside. If it is a rainy or snowy day, it is best to not put cardboard out for recycling that day.
14. Plastic recycling curbside is tricky. We generally look for the triangle on the bottom to see if we can recycle it but Monroe County goes by shapes instead. The ONLY shapes that are accepted for curbside recycling in Monroe Country are plastic bottles, jugs, jars and tubs. (That means blueberry containers and takeout containers cannot be recycled even though they may have the triangle with a number).
I hope you found this helpful. If you’d like to listen to the podcast where I got this information, CLICK HERE.

10 Comments

    Jane Ellen Bleeg

    Awesome piece – answered many of my questions and now even more will stay out of the trash cycle. Thanks so much for this invaluable info!!!

    Paul+Kane

    Great post, Lou Anne! More on R Community Bikes – this has a special place in my heart because my son did his Eagle Scout project for them. RCB began informally at St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality on South Ave, and blossomed into a large bicycle recycling center on Hudson Ave. They accept donated bikes which they refurbish and give them away to folks who need them for transportation and are referred to RCB by social services agencies. You can support them by donating a bicycle, of by purchasing a bicycle at one of their fundraisers. Used bikes are in short supply, so it’s way to get your hands on one and do some good for the community. Website: https://rcommunitybikes.org/

    Lou Anne DaRin

    Follow-Up to the original article. I went to the Echo Park website to find out exactly what is meant by a tub (one of the shapes that is allowed as a plastic curbside recyclable). I had to dig for it but I found a section called “Recyclopedia” and it stated plastic deli, berry and salad containers cannot be recycled. That’s really upsetting as I’ve been putting those in my blue bin for years. Have I contaminated a whole bin? I hate the idea of throwing those out. I’ll have to figure out another way to purchase berries and salad this time of year. Here is a link to the section I found this in: https://www.monroecounty.gov/files/DES/recyclopedia.pdf

    Mary Lou Wilson

    Another great resource (that is actually also fun to read) is the book “Can I Recycle This?” by Jennie Romer. It’s available in the public library system.

    Linda DiStefano

    I was told to cut the zipper top off of the plastic sandwich type bags before putting them in the bins at the store to recycle.

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