7 Common Things That Can Be Recycled, and 7 Things That Can’t

Jan 2

Are you tired of tossing things in the trash bin that you wish could be recycled? Do you have commingled recycling, but only for certain items? Wherever you live and whatever your local guidelines, there are a handful of common items that can often be recycled, even if not accepted in commingled bins.

Confused yet? Certain items such as mattresses, corks, plastic bags, and more are made of valuable resources, but are not always accepted as part of curbside pickup. Instead, set these items aside until you can take them to a drop off location near you.

By recycling as many items as possible, we can keep valuable resources out of the landfill and in the cycle. Keep reading if you’re ready to step up your recycling game to the next level!

Multicolored waste bins on a curb — *Photo by* *Pawel Czerwinski*

The current state of recycling

We’ve been told for decades to recycle, but to what avail? If you’re starting to suffer from “green fatigue” you’re not alone, as there’s so much information to sort through, and so much effort put out for seemingly little change. Meanwhile, recycling in the US is seeming more useless than ever, especially since the 2018 Chinese ban on recycling imports.

However, the domestic markets for recycled materials, and the accompanying industries and technology, are growing. There’s certainly no reason to give up on recycling, even if it seems difficult. Most importantly, recycling has become more local than ever, so becoming familiar with local guidelines is the first thing any avid recycler should do.

Learn what you can and can’t recycle in your community here.

Why recycling is more important than ever

While recycling as a consumer is not the same as enforcing stricter regulations to the producers, it’s still an extremely valuable facet of sustainability efforts. Recycling not only helps divert materials from landfills, but it reduces greenhouse gas emissions, creates “green jobs,” saves trees, and reduces the sourcing of “virgin” materials such as oil and metals.

Plus, recycling can be profitable–that’s why Chinese businesses were buying all of our recyclables in the first place. Now it’s more important than ever that local businesses use recycled materials, increasing the demand so that waste management companies are able to upgrade sorting technologies and hire more staff.

But if you’re still unsure about whether recycling matters or not, the EPA has compiled critical data demonstrating that recycling does indeed conserve valuable energy and natural resources, with paper and aluminum emerging as big champions of recycling efforts.

Plastics tell a different story, however. While it’s important to recycle whatever plastics your local area accepts, it’s a more complicated resource. There are many different types of plastics, not all of which are easily recycled (or even recyclable at all).

Until there’s stricter regulation of plastic materials, one of the best things you can do as a consumer is limiting your purchasing of single use plastics. Beyond that, reuse and recycle what you can.

What is mixed recycling, and how do I know if I have it?

While not all communities have it, mixed recycling, or commingled recycling, is common in many urban and suburban parts of the United States. It’s more convenient for the typical consumer, making it more likely that recyclable items do end up recycled rather than in the landfill.

You’ll know you have mixed recycling if you have a single bin (often blue), much like a trash bin or yard waste bin, that gets picked up regularly by your local waste management. Sometimes these bins will have printed on them what they accept, but more often than not you’ll have to go to track down your local guidelines to know for sure.

If you don’t have mixed recycling, you might have a single stream waste system in place for all trash and recycling. In that case, you might consider separating at least the most obvious recyclables and taking those to local drop off locations. For example, most towns and cities have various drop offs for commonly recycled items, in addition to the ones covered below.

What is recycling contamination?

Recycling contamination occurs when the wrong items end up in the recycling bin, or when items (such as paper and cardboard) are contaminated by liquids or food residue. But will an entire batch of recyclables really get redirected to the landfill if it’s contaminated by just one wrong item?

Fortunately, it usually takes more than one contaminant for a batch to be rejected by the recycling facility, but it does happen, more often than you’d imagine. For example, a study found that nearly 17% of recycling in England and Wales gets wasted thanks to contaminants.

Although a lot of contamination happens because of the wrong items being added to mixed recycling bins, another common type of contamination is by food residue. Small amounts of residue are usually okay, but too much can leak onto other materials and ruin the quality of an entire batch.

Click here to learn how to prevent contamination by rinsing your recyclables.

Can I recycle things not accepted in my mixed recycling?

While adding the wrong items in your mixed recycling bin might result in contamination, chances are some of those items could still be recycled. For example, plastic bags are almost never allowed in commingled recycling, but they can be recycled and are often accepted around town, such as at grocery stores.

Keep reading to learn about some common items that you can recycle in order to further divert the amount of waste ending up in landfills.

Can I recycle pizza boxes?

Pizza boxes are made of corrugated cardboard, an easily recycled resource. But what if there’s oily residue soaked into the cardboard? Can you still recycle a pizza box then? It’s not as if you can simply rinse it off, right?

Contrary to popular belief, you can recycle most pizza boxes, and even cardboard that’s gotten wet, for that matter.

In fact, a WestRock study found that low levels of grease contamination does not affect the quality of resulting recycled paper. So, as long as you remove all bits of pizza first, you can certainly recycle the box it came in.

7 common things that can be recycled

While commingled recycling makes recycling easier than ever, most municipalities have strict rules for what can and can’t be put in the recycling bin. For example, in one town you might be able to recycle all #5 plastics, while in the next town over you can’t.

For your local guidelines, you should check your local municipality. That said, there are a number of common items that even when not accepted in mixed recycling can be set aside to take to a drop-off location in town. Although many recycling facilities accept drop-offs, you might find some unexpected locations, such as grocery stores!

Keep your eye out for resources to help you find places to recycle some of these common items:

Corks

While plastic bottle caps are often (though not always) accepted in mixed recycling, corks are usually not. That’s partly because they’re easily contaminated, and yet, cork is a valuable and limited resource. That’s because it’s harvested from the cork oak tree.

While corks are easily reused in craft projects, the material itself can be broken down and made into new things, such as shoe soles or new, unlimited corks. So don’t throw those corks out–save them and bring them to a local drop-off or ship them to a company such as ReCORK!

Plastic bags and film

Plastic bags are often considered a huge nuisance for waste management companies, as they are one of the most common items to clog up sorting machinery. That’s why you’ll find that you can’t put any plastic bags or film in your commingled recycling. But did you know that these items can be recycled, to be used to make new products?

As long as the bags and film are clean and dry, you can collect and save them until you’re ready to take them to a drop off location near you.

Can carriers

Can carriers for 4-packs and 6-packs of cans are now commonly made out of hard plastic, a material that can often be recycled. These innovative products are designed to replace plastic 6-pack rings that have been strangling and endangering sea life for years.

Fortunately, can carriers made by companies such as PakTech are fully recyclable, as long as they’re taken to a participating drop off location.

Unused paint, stain, and oil

Paints, stains, and oils are important to keep out of the landfill and are often considered hazardous waste. While some oil-based paints and oils are not always accepted, most local landfills/recycling facilities will accept unused leftovers as a drop-off or as part of a special promotion.

If possible, use these tips to store your paint for longer so you don’t have to throw it out in the first place.

Batteries

Batteries are another item that you should avoid tossing in the trash whenever possible. Not only are they always recyclable, but they can present a serious hazard to the environment. Instead, keep a bin of used batteries and take them into a local drop off when you have the chance.

Next time you need to buy batteries, consider getting a pack of reusable ones instead!

A pile of used batteries — *Photo by* *John Cameron*

Old guitar strings

Did you know that you can actually recycle music strings, whether made of plastic or metal? String companies such as D’Addario have recycling programs that will take your old strings to be made into new ones. Just hold on to them until you’ve got enough for a shipment!

Mattresses

While mattresses certainly aren’t part of most curbside pickup programs, they still contain a lot of valuable materials that should be recycled whenever possible. This is especially true given their bulk, as they can take up valuable (and unnecessary) space in landfills.

While reselling mattresses is a good option for newer, clean mattresses, older mattresses should be recycled. This guide presents recycling options, such as asking mattress companies to haul your old one away, or checking with your local thrift store if they send mattresses to recycling centers.

7 common things that can’t be recycled

While there’s a lot of hope yet that we can improve recycling and increase the demand for recycled goods, regulations still have a long way to go to limit the kinds of single use plastics and packaging that can be produced.

That said, although much of our waste can be recycled, there are a number of common items that can’t be recycled, even if they seem like they could be.

These items include: