Recycling is an old trick that goes a long way in conserving nature, keeping the environment clean, and cutting down pollution. The global waste recycling services industry was worth $56.15 billion in 2020 and will grow to $80.30 by 2027. This shows just how important recycling is and why we all need to embrace it.
Recycling goes beyond the blue plastic bins and bottle drives. Unfortunately, many big companies use recycling to avoid dealing with the responsibility of their manufactured packaging. Therefore, it’s no wonder that we all seem to get it all wrong in recycling matters. However, recycling should be a factor of creativity and a source of productivity. So here are some useful recycling tips to enhance your recycling efficiency.
Recycling at Home
It’s not unusual to get confused about what should or should not go into the recycle bin. And it changes constantly based on your location! Surprisingly, about 30% of what we put in the recycling bin doesn’t belong there. If you want to cut through the confusion of recycling dos and don’ts, here’s what you can do.
Stay Away From Bags
Grocery bags can become potentially harmful microplastics, especially if ingested by animals. Although they are technically recyclable, they must go to a drop-off area and not the standard curbside bin. In recycling plants, grocery bags are the number one “tanglers” that get caught in the machinery, causing a breakdown of equipment.
Small Things, Big Problems
As a rule, avoid recycling anything smaller than a credit card, no matter how useful you think it is. This includes paper clips, bottle caps, coffee pods, and plastic cutlery. Usually, the items are too small to sort in the recycling plant and cause the recycling equipment to jam.
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Clean, Empty, and Dry
Food waste never makes for proper recycling. It only serves to contaminate the whole load of recyclable material, rendering it useless. In the U.S., food waste accounts for 25% of the contamination of recyclable loads. This means that the containers that find their way to the recycling bins must be clean, empty, and dry. If anything that goes into the recycling bin is likely to attract rodents, it’s not good enough for recycling efficiently.
Stop Wish-cycling
Wish-cycling is putting non-recyclable items in the recycling bins with the hope that they can be recycled. The only thing this does is contaminate the recyclable materials. Check with your city’s threshold for recyclables that should be sent to third-party waste management companies.
Create a Recycling System
The best way to handle the recycling process is to create a recycling system. This will minimize the time it takes to sort plastics or memorize recycling symbols. While the alternative is to commit to a zero-waste lifestyle, the commitment such an approach demands, is way above what recycling demands.
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A recycling system demands checking in advance with a local residential recycling service to see what it accepts or rejects. This way, it becomes easier to study and sort trash using the right type and size of containers. Things you can recycle include paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs, aluminum soda cans and foil, and glass. Avoid batteries and electronics, food waste, foam, single-use utensils, napkins, paper towels, and paper plates.
For enhanced convenience, the local recycling center should be a two-part system. One part should cater for simple disposal, and the other for trash that requires periodic storage. The everyday part should be for the waste you produce in large quantities every day, mainly from the kitchen.
Create a storage space where you can move the recyclable trash bins when they fill up until it’s time to drop them off. The garage, mudroom, or laundry room would be good spots.
Top Recycling Tips
In addition to recycling, ensure you also reuse and reduce. Reduce your waste production by shifting consumption to well-designed products and services. Furthermore, find constructive use for waste materials. Other useful tips are:
- If it’s broken, fix it or return it to the manufacturer
- Know what you can and cannot recycle
- Reuse things like clothing in new and different ways instead of buying new
- Buy recycled
- Encourage artists to use recycled materials
- Use rain barrels for watering your garden
- Compost your greenery and food waste
- If you don’t like something, let it go
- Consciously and carefully analyze your waste stream
- Join or start a Buy Nothing group in your area
Local Recycling Services
Recycling at home can be a lot of hard work. I always recommend getting the services of a residential recycling company to help in recycling efficiently. A recycling facility that has experience in the field will guide you in sorting trash and provide recycling bins for your convenience. It also has the right technology and machinery to handle recycling the right way.
