According to the EPA, the average person produces 5.91 pounds of waste per day with 1.51 pounds of that being recycled. If you’re looking for ways to help, you can start with your own actions. Here’s what you should know about sorting your waste into recycling, compost, and landfill. What belongs in the recycling? Recyclable items will vary based on your specific location and processing plant. Be sure to check local rules to see what your recycling service will and won’t recycle. This way, you can maximize your recycling efforts. There are five categories of recycling: paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum/metal, and glass. Here are the items that you can recycle in each. Be sure that any item recycled is empty, clean, and dry.
Newspaper
Envelopes
Junk mail
Phone books
Brochures
Magazines
Cardboard
Ream wrappers
File folders
Post board
Cardboard boxes
Corrugated shipping boxes
Milk cartons
Aluminum cans
What items should be composted? Compost is defined as organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow. According to the EPA, food scraps and yard waste currently make up more than 30 percent of what we throw away. Not only do these items take up space in landfills, but they also produce a greenhouse gas called methane, and it’s about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. By composting these materials instead of sending them to the landfill, we eliminate permanent waste and the release of gases responsible for the greenhouse effect. Composting requires three basic ingredients: 1. Browns: Materials like dead leaves, branches, and twigs 2. Greens: Grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, and coffee grounds 3. Water: The right amount of water, greens, and browns is important for compost development The following items are compostable:
Fruits and vegetables
Eggshells
Coffee grounds and filters
Tea bags
Nutshells
Shredded newspaper
Kraft paper (no plastic lining)
Cardboard
Paper
Yard trimmings (unless treated with chemical pesticides)
Grass clippings
Houseplants
Hay and straw
Leaves
Sawdust
Wood chips
Cotton and wool rags
Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
Hair and fur
Fireplace ashes
What goes to the landfill?
Some items cannot be put in either recycling or composting. These items will ultimately end up in the landfill (unless they require special handling). Pay attention to the following item to make sure they end up in the right spot. Unfortunately, there has been an increase in “wishcycling,” or recycling without checking whether or not an item is recyclable. Just because you want an item to be recycled or believe that it can be does not make it true. You must check to see if it can be composted or recycled, and if not, it goes to the landfill.
Plastic bags (that cannot be reused)
Styrofoam
Textiles
Paper food storage (ex: takeout food containers, pizza boxes, potato chip bags, candy wrappers, bread bags)
Diapers
Car and household batteries
Motor oil
Antifreeze
Tires
What items require special handling?
Some items should not be recycled, composted, or put in a landfill. Disposal of these items requires special handling.
Incandescent light bulbs
Florescent tubes
Computers and electronics
Needles and syringes
Hazardous waste
Toxic material containers
Paint
Do your part to avoid waste
By doing your part each day to properly sort your waste, you can make a big impact on the Earth. You can help sort your garbage and reduce the amount of trash that needs processing. It’s an integral part of both the recycling and composting processes and eliminates thousands of pounds that will otherwise end up in landfills.
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