What Do You Put in Curbside Recycling Bins?

Using recycling bins helps conserve natural resources.

While most counties have central recycling facilities to which you can bring recyclables, many cities and towns include recycling in their regular trash collection. Curbside recycling programs may allow you to include metal containers, plastic, paper and cardboard, and glass in recycling bins, but programs vary in what they will accept.

Paper and Cardboard

Using recycled paper helps conserve trees and woodlands. Recycling your paper and cardboard helps this happen. Consequently, put unspoiled (no food or grease stains) paper and cardboard in the container, so it can be recycled.

Metal

The process of extracting ore from the ground, then smelting is down into usable metals is an energy intensive process. Reclaiming metal, however, takes much less energy. Clean out your aluminum and tin cans to put in the recycling bin. Check with your city to see if your area can recycle additional materials, like aluminum foil.

Plastic

Plastic is actually a petroleum-based product, meaning it is actually made from oil. Recycling plastic cuts down on the amount of oil needed to produce plastic materials. Every plastic container has a stamp, the triangle recycling symbol, with a number inside indicating the number of times the plastic has been re-used. Not all recycling facilities can handle all recycle numbers, so check with your local recycling facility to see what kinds of plastics you can put in your bin.

Glass

Recycling a ton (the specific unit of weight) of glass bottles also saves a ton (again, the specific unit of weight) of new materials from being used to produce new glass. Glass is infinitely recyclable, so glass bottles should be placed in your recycle bin. Check with your local recycling facility to see if they accept other glass products, like Pyrex or light bulbs, before you put them in the bin.

References

• LessIsMore.org: What Can I Recycle?
• Earth911: Facts about Glass Recycling