Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by wlesieutre on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @09:27PM (#20763788)

I live in New Haven and saw on our handy recycling flyer [0] that pizza boxes are listed, with no caveat, as being a single stream curbside recyclable item.

Which is great, because pizza is a whole thing in this town. We eat a lot of it.

So I was surprised to learn, if you go poking around and find the RecycleCT website [1] and hover your mouse over the pizza box, up pops this note. "No food residue. No liner."

Never in my life have I had a pizza box without grease soaked through it.

Maybe they've just given up, and knowing it won't be recycled anyway, they don't bother to make a fuss about what can go in the bin? Is this flyer just there to make us feel better about our waste? Because otherwise that's a pretty major note to forget to mention. Pizza boxes are recyclable, just as long as there's never been any pizza in it.

[0] https://www.newhavenct.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?b...

[1] https://www.recyclect.com

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by detritus on Thursday August 22, 2019 @09:41AM (#20767908)

This is a common misconception and one which has led to me having many 'conversations' with housemates and neighbours over the years.

You might find that greasy, unlaminated cardboard is recyclable in the food/organic waste stream, as it is here in London.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by wlesieutre on Sunday August 25, 2019 @01:55PM (#20794393)

The only food/organic waste stream I've got here is the sewer, curbside pickup has trash and recycling

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by esotericn on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @09:50PM (#20763900)

Shouldn't a pizza box be compostable anyway? It's mostly cardboard?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by yawz on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @10:38PM (#20764139)

AFAIK composting or compost collection is not available everywhere.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by wlesieutre on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @11:08PM (#20764298)

Correct, no city compost here and I'm in an apartment building so I can't put a pile of it in the backyard

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by secabeen on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @11:44PM (#20764456)

You can tear the top off and recycle that, and discard the greasy bottom. While some pizzas will also soil the top of the box, you sometimes get one that's pristine.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by yawz on Wednesday August 21, 2019 @10:37PM (#20764135)

A used pizza box can almost always only be composted.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by vict00ms on Thursday August 22, 2019 @11:20AM (#20769073)

It's worse than you realize: a single pizza box can contaminate an entire bale of (otherwise recyclable) cardboard.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why by carti on Thursday August 22, 2019 @12:59AM (#20764778)

A lot of the local guidelines I've seen mention that light grease is ok.

[ Parent | on HN ]