Scuttlebutt: Recycling Detailed

By Mitch McFarland

     It feels like maybe time to have a little recycling update.  I realize that there are plenty of people out there who are comfortable with their confusion as to how and what to recycle.  Some use this confusion to justify their largely limited recycling efforts, when actually they don't really care all that much.  For many people reducing landfill fees and helping to create a circular economy just doesn't rate very high on their list of priorities.  Probably somewhere below polishing the rims on their pickup.

     There are those who throw everything in the landfill.  There are also those who throw all their discards in recycling bins as though they are free garbage dumps.  Some of this is called “wish-cycling” in which someone hopes something is recyclable, though often they don't actually care one way or another.  The rest are just freeloaders.

     I'm sure there are some folks who couldn't care less what I have to say about recycling, but they are not likely to be reading this column anyway, so let's move to something more productive .

     I think that our local population has a pretty good understanding of the need and value of a sustainable society and a circular economy is definitely a part of that.

     There are lots of folks around here who really do care about the planet and our incredibly wasteful ways.  When I ran the recycling drop-off at Arena Cove there used to be a gentleman who, whenever he came to recycle, would sort through the bins and remove non-recyclable items for me (a task I performed often several times a day).  Others have commented to me that they were gratified to learn that I was not the only person who tears the tape off cardboard boxes before recycling.  Others have contacted me to ask a question about the use of the drop-off and other recycling questions, though often those questions might better be answered by the recycler, generally Solid Waste of Willits.

     So for you dear recyclers here are a few tips to enhance your recycling efforts.

     Many recyclable items are not recycled because they are too small to make it through sort lines at the recycling processors.  This includes small bits of plastic and metal bottle caps.  You probably know that #1 PET plastic (sometimes called PETE) is recyclable.  This is an extremely common plastic currently used as packaging for small to medium sized products.  You have all seen things sold in PET, molded to the shape of the item and glued to a piece of cardboard.  Both the cardboard and the PET are recyclable, but not together.  After simply separating the two, the cardboard can be recycled with your paper recycling, but what about that little piece of PET?  Good chance it won't get recycled if sent through the system alone.  So what to do?

     Many, many things are now being sold in larger PET containers that are resealable.  The one you might be most familiar with is salad mix that comes in clear containers that securely close.  Before putting them in a recycling bin they can be conveniently filled with several smaller bits of PET saved, for example, from battery packaging.

     The same holds true for metal bottle caps on glass bottles.  While both the metal and the glass are recyclable, they are not the same material (duh).  No problem recycling the glass, but what about the metal cap?  It is not going to make it through a sort line, but you can use a rinsed out metal can to save those caps until it is about half full, then crush the top closed so that the caps cannot escape and put the whole thing in recycling.

     I do the same with other plastics. #2 HDPE is very common.  I take a laundry detergent jug and put a long slice in it so that I can shove small #2 items inside.  When it is full, off it goes to the recycler.  Incidentally, I learned that the plastic ring around the lid of ice cream containers is #2 plastic.  After removing the ring from the cardboard lid, the ring goes in the detergent jug.  I learned this by emailing Haagen Dazs and simply asking what the ring is made of.  It wasn't hard to do.  Don't be reluctant to ask companies about the recyclability of their packaging and products.  I do it all the time and generally I get an answer.  Even if their stuff is not recyclable, you have made a point in asking.

     One of my recycling heroes, Ling Yen Jones,  informed me that parchment paper used in baking is generally reusable and we all know that reuse comes before recycling.  My wife, Madeline, uses those PET salad containers for germinating seeds with excellent results.

     We are all familiar with the classic impulse of  balling up paper before discarding it.  That may be a potent image, but it is a lousy way to recycle.  Too  bulky!  I have a wine box next to my desk (don't ask) where I put all my junk mail and other paper products including all those cardboard boxes that foodstuffs come in.  I simply tear them open at the glued seam and stack them in the wine box.  A wine box will hold almost 20 lbs of paper before I bind it securely with sisal or cotton twine so the paper won't blow all over the place when I place it in the recycle drop-off.

     What ideas can you come up with to enhance resource use?  Let me know via www.thelighthousepeddler.com and I'll pass it along.  It would be fun to have a whole column of readers' suggestions.