more local recycling info

[darkoshi]

https://colatoday.6amcity.com/how-does-recycling-work/

https://colatoday.6amcity.com/columbia-sc-dirty-dozen-recycling/

items you should never place in your recycling bins or carts – and why

Shredded paper or other small items

Shredded paper and other small items usually fly out of the recycling truck and become litter before even making it to the facility. If it makes it there, it ends up falling through cracks of the sorting machines and contaminating other items. The golden rule here is: If it’s smaller than a Post-It note, just toss in the trash.

Flattened bottles or cans

If you flatten your bottles and cans the machine will think they’re paper and sort it with paper – thus contaminating the paper. Bottom line: Do rinse, but don’t flatten these.

Caps/lids on glass bottles/jars

Lids on jars is a newer rule. Lids on glass jars are typically made of metal – and mixed materials are harder to separate. Glass goes through a glass crusher, and if the lid is still on it, it would mix metal into the glass. But as long as materials match, it’s fine to leave the lid on – like on soda bottles (plastic-on-plastic).

So, when I pick up trash from the street, and find flattened soda cans or flattened plastic water bottles, I should no longer put them in the recycling bin.

I guess I should no longer put the flat metal ends of cardboard cylinders (like Pringles or nut containers) in the recycling either. I have always separated the metal from the cardboard, and put both in the bin. (after peeling the foil off the cardboard, and trashing the foil).

But what about the metal lids of wide-mouthed glass jars... they shouldn't be left screwed onto the jars, but can they be put in separately or not? They are sort of flat, but not completely flat... I guess I should put them, and the other flat metal pieces, with the scrap metal in the garage. Hopefully that will be taken to a metal recycler someday... I've never been to one myself, but my mom used to take stuff, when the metal prices were better.

But per the above, it's ok to keep lids on plastic bottles. I seem to keep getting conflicting info on that one.

Comments

[randomdreams]

The tops on mason jars are steel, so they should get picked out by a magnetic separator.

[darkoshi]

So maybe they only meant that flattened soda cans are a problem. Hmm. I wish I knew for sure. I always seem to have more questions than are answered.

Once long ago before we even had curbside recycling here, I sent a paper letter with a SASE to one of the drop-off recycling facilities, with a list of questionable items, and asked them to put a checkmark by the ones it was ok to recycle. They did. Nowadays it ought to be easy to do something like that by email I guess, but I'd feel weird doing it (though sending the letter felt weird too).