I hear a lot of these myths repeated over and over (because
if you say something enough it has to be true, right?), and I wanted to set the
record straight.
Myth 1:
You have to remove the caps from your bottles before you recycle them because
the cap and the bottle are different kinds of plastic.
Fact 1:
The caps should be left on! The recyclers have a very efficient way of getting
the two different plastics separated. Once the bottles get to the recycler,
they are chipped and put into a vat of water. One of the types of plastic
floats and one kind sinks. Skim off the floating plastic and voila!
Myth 2:
As long as my diabetic pens/ needles are in a hard plastic jug I can recycle it
because the jug is recyclable.
Fact 2:
Nope, needles should never be placed in with the recycling, even if they are in
a hard plastic jug with the lid taped on. Why? Have you ever seen a recycling
processor facility?
View it
here. Many of the parts in the process can crush or crack open the lid of
that container, thus, throwing needles all over. Obviously, this poses a health
and safety risk for the employees. So what should you do? Take that jug and put
it in with the regular trash, or buy a sharps container from your pharmacy and
follow disposal instructions.
Myth 3:
Food-stained and grease soaked paper can be recycled.
Fact 3:
In the paper making process, recycled paper must be turned back into pulp to
make new paper. The paper is put into a churning vat of water and made into
pulp. Oil and water don’t mix and thus the oil causes spots and holes in the
finished product. Your best bet? Tear or cut out the food soaked areas and
recycle the rest. Your food soaked paper can also be composted.
Myth 4:
I heard that I can recycle my plastic bags with my curbside recycling.
Fact 4:
Even though plastic bags are recyclable, they are not accepted in most curbside
programs. They get caught in the machinery and can cause a lot of damage. Take
these bags back to the grocery store where most have a plastic bag recycling
center in the entrance area. FYI, those plastic bag programs also take
newspaper bags, dry cleaning bags, bread bags, and Ziploc bags (sans food of
course).
Myth 5:
Recycling is a time consuming burden on the American public.
Fact 5:
Recycling does not require much time at all. In fact, the author of
Recycling is Garbage asked a college
student to measure the time he spent separating materials for recycling during
one week. The total time was a mere 8 minutes.
So there you have it, 5 recycling myths Debunked.
Thirsty for more? Just ask a question in the comments and I will answer to the
best of my abilities!
Tags: recycling Bloomington il, recycling Normal il,
recycling Springfield il, recycling Decatur il, recycling Peoria il