What can be recycled where you live?

[simonsez]

I am curious what is offered in different places.  For instance, traveling in Yellowstone I was surprised that they only accepted types 1 and 2 at most recycling receptacles.  I figured a national park (especially one with a history of problems with its trash) would be on the leading edge, but then I suppose there aren't that many facilities to process material in NW Wyoming.  The city of St. Louis does not allow type 6 though there is a re-purpose facility for polystyrene not too far away.

From wiki, here is a breakdown of the numbers:
“1” signifies that the product is made out of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (beverage bottles, cups, other packaging, etc.)
“2” signifies high-density polyethylene (HDPE) (bottles, cups, milk jugs, etc.)
“3” signifies polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (pipes, siding, flooring, etc.)
“4” signifies low-density polyethylene (LDPE) (plastic bags, six-pack rings, tubing, etc.)
“5” signifies polypropylene (PP) (auto parts, industrial fibres, food containers, etc.)
“6” signifies polystyrene (PS) (plastic utensils, Styrofoam, cafeteria trays, etc.)
“7” signifies other plastics, such as acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate and polylactic acid (PLA)

Note: I don't know how to change this from a radio button poll to mark all that apply so all I did was set the max votes per user to 7 (since the first 7 options are mutually exclusive with the 8th).

Edit: It looks like the select-all works but the wrong denominator is used for the response rate.  The real percentage should be responses for each option divided by the number who have responded (not the total number of responses across all categories).  Ah well

[Retire-Canada]

Our curbside recycling program is somewhat limited, but if I am willing to take individual items to specific recycling locations it's pretty amazing what can be recycled. The issue is that most people are 1) too busy and 2) don't care enough to do this and they just recycle what the curbside program will take.

[simonsez]

Our curbside recycling program is somewhat limited, but if I am willing to take individual items to specific recycling locations it's pretty amazing what can be recycled. The issue is that most people are 1) too busy and 2) don't care enough to do this and they just recycle what the curbside program will take.

I agree, with the combination of proactively recycling what is available in an area (either pick up or taking it somewhere) and composting, landfill trash can really be mitigated.

I do think that if a lot of people do not care to actively take recycling to a place if it isn't collected at their house - that municipalities should try to extend what all is picked up.  I get these things have a cost but I think that is worthwhile.

[RWD]

Our local recycling center accepts less stuff than the curbside recycling. They don't accept any plastic, while the curbside accepts 1 and 2 (and maybe 5). Neither accepts glass... Curbside recycling costs an extra $2/month here.

[cats]

Our recycling accepts pretty much everything, BUT...it is currently something of a problem.  Previously, a lot of our plastic recycling was sent off to China.  China is getting a lot stricter about what it will accept and the result is that a lot of previously "recyclable" plastic is not longer getting recycled.  Recycling plastic is not as profitable as recycling glass or metal.

Our city is now considering a 25 cent tax on single use disposable food containers at restaurants, which I am totally in favor of.  I think a lot of people figure oh, if something is recyclable then I can use as much of it as I want with no impact.  This is simply not true--it takes energy to produce, ship, and recycle items.  The true lower impact option is to use less single use stuff.

[robartsd]

Our recycling accepts pretty much everything, BUT...it is currently something of a problem.  Previously, a lot of our plastic recycling was sent off to China.  China is getting a lot stricter about what it will accept and the result is that a lot of previously "recyclable" plastic is not longer getting recycled.  Recycling plastic is not as profitable as recycling glass or metal.

Yes, we get containers of cheap manufactured goods from China by the boatload, then send back boatloads of recyclable materials. I'm sure most communities are dealing with this. We've had a lot of outreach from our recycling programs to communicate what is and is not acceptable in the curbside bin. Our curbside recycling accepts paper (no food or other oils), metal, glass, and rigid plastics - Styrofoam and film plastics are not allowed. I believe translates to 1,2,3,5 on this list; but I'm not 100% sure that 3: PVC is acceptable and non-foam 6: PS may be OK. Shredded paper is also unacceptable in our curbside recycling (difficult to handle). It's not hard to find a nearby store that will collect the film plastics and there are a few recycling centers in the region that will accept Styrofoam.

[Cranky]

Paper, glass, metal. Plastic but not film or styrofoam.

Lots of stores will take the plastic bags, but I don't know if they actually recycle them. I don't get very many because we take our own bags to Aldi.

We rarely have any styrofoam.

What I would like to recycle is that blown up plastic padding that Amazon uses. I wonder if the shipping store would take that for reuse? I used to drop Styrofoam peanuts off at those places, but I haven't had a box that used those in ages.

[cats]

Our recycling accepts pretty much everything, BUT...it is currently something of a problem.  Previously, a lot of our plastic recycling was sent off to China.  China is getting a lot stricter about what it will accept and the result is that a lot of previously "recyclable" plastic is not longer getting recycled.  Recycling plastic is not as profitable as recycling glass or metal.

Yes, we get containers of cheap manufactured goods from China by the boatload, then send back boatloads of recyclable materials. I'm sure most communities are dealing with this. We've had a lot of outreach from our recycling programs to communicate what is and is not acceptable in the curbside bin. Our curbside recycling accepts paper (no food or other oils), metal, glass, and rigid plastics - Styrofoam and film plastics are not allowed. I believe translates to 1,2,3,5 on this list; but I'm not 100% sure that 3: PVC is acceptable and non-foam 6: PS may be OK. Shredded paper is also unacceptable in our curbside recycling (difficult to handle). It's not hard to find a nearby store that will collect the film plastics and there are a few recycling centers in the region that will accept Styrofoam.

We had a nearby store that accepted film plastics but they told me a few months ago that the film plastics are no longer being recycled because...they were getting sent to China and China no longer wants them.  The store is now also charging a penny for plastic bulk bags used on non-produce items. 

We generally try to avoid lot of packaging or single use packaging but I'll admit the recent news and outreach has me scrutinizing my use a bit more closely.  I have been making more of an effort to avoid plastic produce bags and I'm planning to dig some cheesecloth out and make a few mesh bags this weekend.

[Syonyk]

"Whatever I separate out and am willing to haul to a place that will accept it."

Which, for us, works out that aluminum and steel are separate out, cardboard is kept onsite for random use, and the rest goes to the landfill.  I haul our trash trailer every 4-6 months at this point, ideally when it's a bit colder out (50F after a nearly freezing night is just about perfect).

We don't have any plastic recycling facilities in the state, so there's not many places that take plastic.  Or, if they do, it's quite a long drive for me to get there.

Previously, a lot of our plastic recycling was sent off to China.  China is getting a lot stricter about what it will accept and the result is that a lot of previously "recyclable" plastic is not longer getting recycled.  Recycling plastic is not as profitable as recycling glass or metal.

Yeah, China saying "Enough, quit shipping us your trash!" has really impacted recycling.  Though I question how much of what made it to China was actually recycled.

[redbird]

They say it's "1-7", but it's not really. They don't accept styrofoam and they don't accept plastic bags or any plastic wrapping/film at all that isn't harder plastics like bottles and containers. You also can't stick any plastic in that doesn't have the numbers printed on it. I've found some plastic containers simply don't have that on there. The city counts any plastic without the numbers as trash.

I can recycle plastic bags, but they would be done through the local grocery stores, Target, etc., not through what the city does.

The city also takes paper, cardboard, and steel/aluminum cans/containers. Technically they take glass too, but they won't pick the glass up curbside like they do everything else. You have to take the glass to the actual recycling center.

[Davnasty]

Our curbside will take 2,4,5 and anything in the shape of a bottle.

Technically throwing a bottle in the trash is against the law, I don't know at what level they actually enforce that. Maybe they check up on businesses, but I highly doubt they're tracking residential trash and fining individuals.

[SunnyDays]

I can recycle plastics # 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7, steel and aluminum cans, all paper except Xmas wrap, glass, and cardboard.  Can't recycle styrofoam or tin foil, or plastic bags, although the last can be taken to stores for them to do it.  I'm a VERY dedicated recycler, having been known to pick up stuff off the streets and retrieve things from the garbage that my lazy roommate just throws out.  I know that my efforts don't make a whole lot of difference in the grand scheme of things, but it's habit at this point.  Our landfill is going to run out of space in about 12 years, so I do what I can.  Compostable pick-up would really make me happy, since I cringe when I see bags of leaves and grass clippings put out for garbage.  There are depots in town where you can take them, or directly to the dump for composting, but most people just couldn't be bothered.

[DragonSlayer]

Ours only takes paper, cardboard, aluminum/metal food cans, plastic bottles, yogurt/butter tub type plastic, and laundry detergent-type bottles. Glass only if clear or brown. We can take scrap metal to the dump or the metal place, but no appliances.

E-waste is the biggest problem around here. The state issued a mandate saying it cannot go in the landfills (and if your trash provider finds it in your trash, you get fined), but yet there are only a handful of municipal centers that will take it (and almost none in the rural areas), and no curbside pickup.

This leaves you to take it to Best Buy or some other similar private operation, which may charge for some things, but will take many things with a plug. But people are lazy and/or don't want to pay and you find it just dumped all around on the roadsides here, especially near the recycling centers. They get it there and then they're told that the center isn't one that takes it, so they just drive off and dump it in the woods. It's really a mess. To me, the state made this rule, they needed to make it easier for people to get rid of the stuff. At least make it so the basic recycling centers will take it, even if they haul it somewhere else. It's a case of good intentions but lousy execution.

[Cranky]

My county has electronics recycling about twice/year. You have to drive to the drop off point, but they are pretty efficient. I dunno what they do with it, though. They also have a hazardous waste collection once or twice/year.

Appliances we put out at the curb. The scrap guys go around with a truck looking for stuff.

[Just Joe]

No curbside recycling (country) but the city will take anything if we'll take it to them - which we do. Its amazing how little trash we have once the recyclables are stripped out. Going full MMM and eating all natural would reduce the family waste even further b/c in theory there would be no plastic or cardboard containers of pre-prepped or processed foods. I wish we could go back to glass bottle drinks and the bottle deposits. I was a kid the last time that was common.

[kanga1622]

Just 1 & 2 plastics here. They don’t have any contracts with companies that want the other numbers so they won’t pick them up.

We can also recycle cardboard, chipboard, paper, and cans at the curb. Glass must be taken directly to the recycling center.