Top Recycling Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

I’m standing in front of my recycling bin, holding an empty cardboard carton of organic milk. I want to recycle it. One reason I bought this milk, even though it cost about a dollar more than the one in the plastic jug, is that I’ve been trying to cut down on plastic use in both my personal and professional life for years now.

Cardboard is one of the easiest things to recycle, but there’s a little voice in my head wondering, “What about the plastic coating inside? Does that matter? It’s still mostly cardboard…right?”

Hoping for the best, I drop it in the bin. And just like that, I’ve “wishcycled.”

Turns out, my cardboard milk container isn’t recyclable here in northern Vermont, despite what the How2Recycle label says. But if I saved it and took it to my office in Colorado, I could recycle it there. (Curious if you can recycle cardboard milk and juice containers curbside? Just plug in your address here.)

Wishcycling is when you toss something in the recycling bin because you want to recycle it, hoping it’ll get turned into something new. But you’re not really sure if it can be recycled, so you let someone else down the line figure it out.

Your intentions are good, but you’re actually creating a big headache for recycling facilities.

Wishcycling Versus Reality

“Wishcycling adds financial, labor, and environmental burdens to every recycling system around the world,” says Michele Morris, the marketing and communications director at the Chittenden Solid Waste District in Vermont, which operates the recycling facility near my home in Stowe. “When you wishcycle, a worker has to manually remove that item from the conveyor belt and send it to the landfill—something you could’ve avoided by making the right choice in the first place.” Morris mentions some of the wild items she’s seen come through the facility: shoes, bicycle tires, garden hoses, Styrofoam coolers, plastic toys, and even the occasional bowling ball.

The solution to wishcycling is simple: Don’t assume—take the time to learn what’s actually recyclable in your area. I googled “town dump Stowe Vermont” and found a page with a tab that clearly lists what can be recycled where I live.

But there isn’t a one-size-fits-all search phrase for every place. If you’re in a city like Chicago, try searching “recycling Chicago.” In a few clicks, you’ll find what you need. If you still have questions, check the contact page and give them a call. “What’s accepted in your area depends on how close you are to processors and how much recycling your community generates, among other factors,” says Morris. “These can vary not just regionally but even within the same state.” For example, the types of plastics that can be recycled, and yes, even milk cartons, can differ from place to place.

“People love to say that recycling is broken,” says Stefanie Valenti, editorial director of Waste360. “It’s not, but it is disjointed. The infrastructure hasn’t kept up with all the different types of materials, especially plastics, that have been introduced. The waste management industry is investing a lot of money to improve its logistics, but it’s a slow process.”

Recycling is all about economics. In 2020, recycling was a $2.9 billion industry, and like any market, it’s driven by supply and demand. There’s a big demand for certain materials, like cardboard Amazon boxes and plastic Miracle Whip jars. But for other items—like milk cartons—there are fewer processors capable of handling their multi-layered materials, which means there’s less of a recycling market for them.

“When in doubt, give a shout or throw it out,” says Morris. “Learn the rules where you live and trust that they’re designed to capture the most important and impactful materials while keeping out the stuff that causes problems. If you’re unsure, it’s better to throw it away.”

I think back to the thousands of recycling mistakes I’ve made over the years: the unused plastic cutlery from Yum Yum Thai, Scotch tape dispensers, old plastic cutting boards, and chipped pint glasses. (Yes, all of those are no-no’s according to the “container rule” below.)

But Morris says we shouldn’t stress over the small stuff. If we all focused on avoiding the “Big Five” most common recycling mistakes, it would make a huge difference for the recycling system and the planet.

The Big Five Curbside Recycling Mistakes

Plastic Bags

Filmy plastic, like zipper-lock bags, bubble wrap, plastic-padded Amazon envelopes, garbage bags, toilet paper wrap, and bread bags, can’t be processed in single-stream recycling systems.

Why it’s a problem: Soft plastics jam the machinery. Workers have to stop the entire operation to manually remove them, which is a hassle. These plastics can also get tangled with other recyclables, causing the whole batch to end up in the landfill instead of being recycled. Plus, if you put recyclables like plastic bottles or paper in a plastic bag, the entire bag will be tossed in the landfill because workers don’t have time to unbag and sort everything.

The solution: Many grocery stores around the country have drop-off points where you can properly recycle soft plastics.

Un-Rinsed Containers

Why it’s a problem: Two big reasons—leftover peanut butter or dried-up sauce from your General Tso chicken lowers the quality of the material you’re trying to recycle, which defeats the whole purpose. Plus, it can create health and safety issues for the workers who have to handle the mess, not to mention the rats and wasps it attracts to the facility.

The solution: Just give your containers a quick rinse—no need for soap or scrubbing—to get rid of most of the gunk. Or, better yet, save water and give your pet a treat. Dogs and cats are great at licking food containers clean.

Rigid Plastic

Single-stream recycling is set up to handle rigid, single-use plastic containers like those used for food, drinks, and nonhazardous cleaning products, such as shampoo and laundry soap. But don’t assume all plastic can go in the recycling bin. Most plastic items have a number inside a triangle or letters next to it (like PET or HDPE). These are called Resin Identification Codes (RICs), but they were never meant to guide consumers. “They were created for recyclers and processors to keep materials consistent in each bale,” says Morris.

Morris suggests ignoring the numbers and focusing on your local recycling guidelines. A simple rule of thumb is to stick to the container rule: single-use rigid plastic containers only, like water bottles, soda bottles, salad dressing bottles, and shampoo bottles. The system isn’t designed to handle durable plastic items like storage bins, flip-flops, pens, toys, sunglasses, or hampers because these items can’t be sorted and baled with similar products. For example, recyclers can’t collect enough pens to make a marketable 35,000-pound load to sell. “But we know that most containers we receive are the types of plastics we want—the kinds we can sell to processors to be turned into new materials,” she explains.

Why it’s a problem: While almost anything is technically recyclable, in reality, there are a lot of factors to consider. First, Morris explains, you need enough similar material (supply) to make it worthwhile for the facility to collect it from a labor, cost, and space perspective. Then, you need a recycler who can sort and bale the material, a marketer to collect and sell the bales, and finally, a processor willing to buy the material (demand) at a price that covers everyone’s costs and still turns a profit. “That’s why we focus on common items. We know there’s supply and demand,” she says.

The solution: Ask yourself, “Is this a single-use container?” If yes, recycle it, regardless of the numbers or letters on it. If not, toss it in the trash. And whenever possible, try to avoid buying plastic in the first place.

Also Read: Sustainable Plastics Industry Growth: Next Decade

Scrap Metal 

The container rule applies here as well. Only empty metal containers for food, drinks, and nonhazardous cleaning products should go in your recycling bin, like soda cans, soup cans, and olive oil cans.

Why it’s a problem: Other metal items like silverware, bottle caps, metal jar lids, razor blades, and wire hangers can be dangerous for workers and can damage recycling machines.

The solution: Hold onto those items and find a local scrap metal recycler (just Google it!). Metal has value, so you might even earn a few bucks.

Batteries

Batteries—especially lithium-ion ones—are a big no-no for curbside recycling. They’ve caused a surprising number of fires at recycling facilities, landfills, transfer stations, and even during transport.

Why it’s a problem: Batteries are super sensitive to heat and friction. And recycling centers are full of friction—imagine a maze of conveyor belts, metal teeth, grinding gears, vibrating steel mesh, and powerful magnets and vacuums.

The solution: Store your used batteries in a box and ask your town or local recycling center where the nearest drop-off is.

Kristin Hostetter is the Head of Sustainability at Outside Interactive, Inc. and the resident sustainability columnist on Outside Online.