If you’ve ever stood in your kitchen staring at an empty peanut butter jar wondering, “Can this go in the recycling bin?” you are definitely not alone, and soon the confusion could cost us more in Rockford.
Common Recycling Mistakes
I am not exaggerating when I tell you that my husband and I get into a disagreement about recycling at least once a week.
Basically, my husband is pretty lax about recycling stuff, while I try to be more careful about it. Honestly, I used to throw anything plastic or paper in the recycling bin, but I’ve learned in the last couple of years that I had been making some pretty big mistakes.
So, what are the biggest recycling offenders? Here are some common items people wish were recyclable but usually are not.
- Pizza boxes – A clean pizza box is good, but a used pizza box covered in grease is very bad.
- Plastic shopping bags – All those bags you get from the grocery store jam sorting machines at recycling facilities. Same goes for stretchy items like garden hoses, extension cords, and string lights. Basically, if it tangles, don’t toss it in the recycling bin.
- Styrofoam – Long story short, Styrofoam is bulky and inefficient to process since it’s made mostly of air.
- Food-contaminated items – Any plastic items or glass jars that once contained food or liquid, (example: milk jugs, peanut butter jars) must be rinsed out before being placed in a recycle bin. Food-contaminated jars can harm sorting machines and ruin other recyclable materials.
Ready for the not-so-great news?…