Why shouldn't I recycle this?

Everyday, people try to recycle several things all over the world. But, almost all of the people who recycle are making one big mistake. We all know that we can recycle paper, glass and plastic, but not all items made from paper, glass or plastic can be recycled, e.g. grocery bags, bread bags, plastic shrink wrap packaging (such as the wrap on bulk paper towel bags), plastic wrap, diapers, chains and cables, small scrap metal, paper shreds, ALL glass and collection bags (eg. can liners). 

The ADS, American Disposal Services say that the plastic films and grocery bags wrap around the large rotating gears in the recycling sorting machinery and cause the entire American Recycling Center to shut down until the bags and films are removed. Next time, instead of putting those grocery bags in the recycling bin, try going to a bag drop off location. Bag drop off locations can be found in your neighborhood grocery store, Walmart OR Target. 

Some people also recycle diapers. Diapers no matter dirty or clean, they are NOT recyclable. It is impossible to reuse the paper they are made from and it is dangerous to the people who remake the items you put in the recycling bin. A few reusable diapers are compostable diapers which are available for a slightly higher cost and there are the old fashioned cloth diapers. 

Another commonly recycled item is small scrap metal. People put in nuts, bolts and wire hangers in the recycling. They end up wrapping around the sorting equipment in the facility and permanently damaging the equipment. It can cause the facility to shut down or in some cases it could even cause a fire. 

One more item that is really dangerous to the facility is chains and cables. Holiday lights, wires, metal chains and plastic/wire cables are all examples of non-recyclable chains and cables. Just like plastic bags and films, they also wrap around the machines and cause the facility to shut down. Many local home improvement stores have collection programs for those items and trade back programs for holiday lights. Ask Lowes or Home Depot for more details. 

Another big confusion is with paper shreds. Paper shreds are NOT recyclable. Because of the small size and quantity of shreds, the machines find it hard to sort and so the shreds are usually thrown away. And the small papers don’t stick to the screen and can fall. A company called Shred Nations has drop boxes at various locations for shreds. Ask Shred Nations for more information. 

Our last big confusion/issue is glass. Where should glass go? Can all my glass go in the recycling bin? A lot of people just put all of their glass in the trash or all of it in the recycling. To answer the 1st part of confusion, yes you can recycle glass. To answer the 2nd part, NO you cannot recycle all the glass that you get. There is a difference. The glass which IS recyclable has different properties and temperatures that they melt on. Drinking glasses, glass objects, broken drinking glass and window glass are NOT recyclable. ONLY glass containers FOR food and beverages are the types of glass that can be recycled. You can put the glass that cannot be recycled in the trash along with your non-recyclable waste. 

Now that you know about the great big issues that can happen in the ADS and the American Recycling Center when somebody recycles the wrong material, think a bit deeper into if your waste can be recycled or if something could go wrong? By recycling and paying a little extra attention you are helping your community. So, in the future, remember to recycle, tell others all about recycling and be a hero.

Credit: Amerciandisposal.com