We here at Health Nut News LOVE the earth and anything that can help to heal it from the damage we’ve already done OR prevent further damage from happening. So, it goes without saying that we love recycling and that’s why we wanted to share this story with you.
With the desire of seeing the city’s recycling rate rise to match the national average, Denver Recycles, a division of Denver Public Works, is helping people “sort out” what can and can’t go into the recycling bin. They hope to see Denver divert at least 34 percent of the household waste that’s normally dumped into landfills, recycled, by 2020. It would be AMAZING if every town followed suit.
But just what CAN be recycled? The better question to ask is how best to organize your recycling. Turns out, a percentage of the plastic, paper, cans and glass that would normally be accepted in programs ends up in landfills because they get contaminated by food, liquid and other contaminants that disqualify them from going on to the secondary market. That means that mistakes like leaving water in a plastic bottle can contaminate a load that would otherwise go on to have a “new life.”
So, pizza boxes? No, because they are covered in leftover food. Put them in the burn pile. Also, foil bags from potato chips and other snacks (like yogurt) are not accepted. When in doubt, and if it’s smaller than a post-it, throw it out; very small things can often be picked up in the sorting process and becomes a contaminant.
Metal is also a no-no for most recycling plants. However, most cities have junkyards or businesses that will either buy your scrap metal or recycle it for you. Many cities also have certain days when citizens can bring hard to recycle items and drop them off, free of charge.
And don’t forget, Starbucks cups and any other paper items with a layer of PET plastic may not be able to be recycled. For instance, Chipotle burrito and salad bowls are made from recycled newspaper but the but the PET lining may be prohibitive for the recycling company in your town. You’ll need to check.
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And lastly, since plastic bags can get caught in the machinery, seize up the motors and maybe even cause a fire, it’s best to just keep your things out of them. Also, sorters don’t have time to rip them open and see what’s inside so, just store your recyclables in a large garbage can instead. While it is true that plastic bags are recyclable, most large grocery store chains have a collection bin where you can drop off all your plastic bags. But again, check with your facility as they may also accept plastic bags.
Good luck. If we all spent just a couple minutes a day sorting out the recycling, heck if we checked to make sure the things we were buying could be recycled, this problem wouldn’t be as large as it is. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we recycled SO MUCH, and used the byproducts, that we had to start buying other country’s trash (like Sweden)?
Source: The Denver Post
