Have you ever put something in the recycling bin because you thought, “I’m not sure if this is recyclable, but they will probably find a way to get it to the right place”?

Many well-intentioned people, myself included, are guilty of this “wishful recycling,” but it’s very important to be mindful of only recycling items that can actually be recycled by your facility.

Did you know that our average recycling contamination rate is one in four items? That means 25% of things in a recycling bin can’t be recycled at the facility it will be sent to.

This happens because there are so many items that seemrecyclable, but aren’t because of chemical additives. Pyrex containers might be lumped in with glass in our minds, but they can’t be recycled like glass because they have been treated to withstand higher temperatures.

Facility workers do a first round of sorting out non-recyclables by hand to catch the more obvious ones and send them directly to a landfill before they can contaminate the rest of the items.

Accidentally recycling the wrong item has the potential to contaminate a whole batch of would-be recyclables, ultimately sending even more than just your original item to the landfill.

Here are 3 items you should stop recycling ASAP:

1.   Frozen food boxes

Are you surprised? I know I was.

I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, but it’s true.

As it turns out, the cardboard used for frozen food, beer and soda boxes is sprayed with a wax-like chemical substance that allows the packaging to withstand the moisture that comes with refrigeration (same goes for those “paper” coffee cups).  

When cardboard is recycled at the facility, it’s blended with water to form a pulp. The wax coating prevents it from breaking down, so it ultimately just contaminates the mixture.

We don’t want a well-intentioned act with the best of intentions to end up being counterproductive, so as much as it pains me to say this- when in doubt, throw it out (in the trash this time).

2.   Plastic films and bags

Here’s the thing- it’s not that malleable plastic like films and bags can’t be recycled, it’s that general solid waste management facilities just aren’t equipped to recycle those types of plastics.

Any plastic bags missed by the first round of hand-sorting could get stuck in the rollers on the conveyor system. When that happens, the machines need to be stopped for an employee to manually remove the bag.

It can be dangerous for the workers and cause machines to get stuck, increasing the cost and time of the process.

Grocery stores often have a designated area for you to recycle plastic bags, but if yours doesn’t, you can find a local drop-off point using this search engine. Check out the different types of plastic they accept at those drop-off locations.

3.   Dirty food containers

That’s right. I’m sorry to report that no facility is going to recycle your plastic to-go container coated in a yummy (Or gross, I guess? You decide.) blanket of Moe’s queso and black beans.

But wait- pizza boxes are made of cardboard, so they’re fine right?

Not if they’re coated in grease or have any remnants of food or wax paper inside, so you better finish every last bite. Rip off the top half to recycle that if it isn’t greasy, and you can always compost the greasy part. 

As a general rule of thumb, anything that could be recyclable stops being so the moment it’s tossed in the bin still coated in food.

So next time you’re recycling a food container, give it a nice rinse first.

The workers at the recycling facility will definitely thank you.

Make sure you don’t forget that too much contamination can cause a whole batch to be sent to the landfill.

Recycling contamination is one of the main reasons recycling remains so inefficient and cost-ineffective, so if you want to learn more about it, check out these 14 recycling contamination facts that will blow your mind.

After you took the time and effort to recycle something, it would be a shame for it to not only end up in the landfill, but cause other recyclables to be sent to the landfill too.

Let’s say it together one last time for the people in the back:

When in doubt, throw it out.

Happy recycling!

Stephanie