Recycling Preparation
Perfecting Your Recycling Habits
Properly preparing your recyclable materials is a critical part of the recycling process. By providing clean, contaminant-free materials, you are making the manufacturer’s job easier and ensuring your recyclables find a new purpose.
Empty All Containers: Ensure all bottles, cans, and containers are emptied. Caps, lids and labels can stay on, but do remove all nozzles.
Break Down and Flatten Cardboard: All corrugated cardboard should be broken down and flattened to save space.
Secure Containers: Keep your recyclables contained by securing the lid on your recycling bin. This prevents paper from escaping and causing litter.
Timely Disposal: Remember to put your recyclables out on the curb by 7:00 A.M. on your scheduled recycling day.
Additional Tips
Optimize your recycling habits with these extra tips.
Exclude Plastic Bags and Film: Keep these out of recycling carts and bins as they can clog the machinery used in recycling facilities.
Cleanliness Matters: Containers don’t need to be spotless, just ensure most residues are scraped out or emptied.
Handle Aerosol Cans Carefully: Fully empty all aerosol cans before recycling.
Space Conservation: If possible, squash bottles and cans to save space in recycling bins, carts, and bags, but don’t flatten them too much as our sorting system may mistake them for paper!
Ensure Paper Products are Clean and Dry: If food is spilled on a magazine or grease stains a pizza box, put those items into the trash.
Do Not Mix: Trash or other non-recyclable items should not be mixed into your recycling.
Extra Recyclables: If you run out of room, place additional recyclables in a cardboard box next to your recycling container on your recycling day. Alternatively, you can contact your local municipality to request additional containers.
What’s Acceptable
Being aware of which items are recyclable and how to prepare them is crucial. Misplaced items or ‘contaminants’ can cause issues during sorting and may even lead to the rejection of an entire batch of recyclables. Currently, items such as aluminum foil, plastic bags, Styrofoam, window or mirror glass, dishes or cookware, drinking glasses, and dog food bags cannot be recycled.
Always remember, recycling practices may vary based on local rules and regulations, as well as the requirements of the businesses that utilize these materials to create new products. Together, we can make recycling work!
