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Waste Management reviews recycling contaminants, acceptable items

Wrong items in recycling containers counteract its benefits
September 5, 2018

Plastic bags and plastic sheeting are a major cause of contamination in the materials processed by the nation’s recyclers. These items should not be placed in household or commercial recycling bins.

Plastic bags and sheeting, like the wrapper a case of bottled water comes in, cannot be recycled through the industry’s material recovery facilities. Once inside a facility, plastic bags and sheeting become tangled in the sorting equipment that separates glass, paper, plastics and metals; this prevents these materials from being properly processed.

Don’t bag recyclables, and do not place the following items in recycling bins: bathroom tissue, batteries, bowling balls, building materials, Christmas lights, foam packaging and food containers, food waste, garden hoses, glassware, greasy pizza boxes, light bulbs, mirrors, plastic toys, pool covers, propane and helium tanks, scrap metal and tarps.

Used syringes, also known as medical sharps, should be disposed of through a medical waste disposal service.

These items and materials are accepted through Waste Management and many other companies’ curbside and commercial recycling service: 1, 2 and 5 plastics; newsprint; magazines; junk mail; office paper; corrugated cardboard; paperboard (the material used to make cereal and shoe boxes); glass bottles and jars that have been rinsed; and tin and aluminum cans that have been rinsed.

Recycling programs can vary from community to community. Those who are not sure whether an item can be recycled should  contact the company that picks up their recycling or their municipal or county recycling office, or place the item in the trash.

For more information, go to Waste Management’s Recycle Often-Recycle Right website at www.rorr.com.

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