![]() ![]() If an unscrewed cap slips through the mechanical sorting line, it will also likely end up with trash headed for a landfill. In some cases, tossing bottles and caps into a bin separately is worse. Processing equipment has improved-the projectile cap is no longer an issue, and caps and bottles are divided into separate streams in sorting facilities. Caps can even be a hazard to workers: they can shoot off unexpectedly during compression.īut times have changed. Also, a tightly screwed on cap can stop up a bottle full of air, which takes up more transport space. Bottles are made from a #1 plastic plastic, while caps are made from a #5 plastic called polypropylene, which melts at a different temperature during the recycling process and would need to be processed separately. Traditionally, plastic bottles with caps on caused problems at recycling sorting facilities. In some cases, recycling programs may ask users to put items like packing chips or shredded paper in plastic bags. Many grocery stores collect plastic bags, and some city recycling programs offer plastic bag pick-up or drop-off programs. If you accumulate a lot of plastic bags, your best options might be recycling programs that focus exclusively on them. They blow off of landfills and wind up in waterways and oceans and seas.” ![]() They cause problems at our compost facilities. “They wrap around and jam recycling equipment. “Plastic bags cause problems in all of our operations,” says Reed. Though the type of plastic (#2 and #4) that’s used to make plastic bags is recyclable, throwing them in with the rest of your recycling has ramifications down the line. They just cause a lot of issues in the recycling process. It’s not that we don’t have the technology to recycle plastic bags. Recycling rules of course vary from one municipality to another, but here are a few ways to improve your recycling routine.ĭon’t put your recyclables in a plastic bag. Recology runs recycling collection programs along the west coast including San Francisco’s highly successful program, which recycles about 80 percent of the city’s waste.ĭoing a bit of research before you try to recycle can make all the difference. So we must all take more responsibility to sort our discards into the proper bins,” says Robert Reed, a spokesperson for Recology. “All garbage goes somewhere it does not go away. Recycling technology has improved a lot over the last decade, which in a way has made the logistics of what you can and can’t toss in the recycling bin a lot more confusing. ![]()
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