Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Mother Jones - A decade ago, according to one estimate, 7 percent of the objects Americans put into their bins weren’t supposed to be there. Today, it’s 25 percent.
“For every ton of material we get in, there’s 500 pounds of trash that
has to be taken out of it,” says Brent Bell, vice president of recycling
operations at Waste Management, the country’s largest waste disposal
company. This garbage ranges from recyclables that are too dirty to
process—mayonnaise jars still coated in a thick layer of eggy goo, for
example—to items that just shouldn’t be there in the first place, like plastic bags.
....When you do recycle, you should know what belongs in the bin:
Rinsed plastic containers and glass bottles, cardboard, and beverage
and food cans are almost always acceptable. Plastic bags, electronics,
and paper covered with food generally are not. Neither are insulated
coffee cups and toothpaste tubes, in most cases. And if you’ve checked
your local guidelines to see if an item is recyclable and you still
aren’t sure, it’s best to ignore your wishful instincts and throw it in
the trash.
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