Are You Wish-cycling? Stop! Simplify With Some Easy Rules For Recycling (Week 6)
Amanda Drews, 12 minute read
We all want to do right by recycling but sometimes when we wish-cycle and put things in our curbside recycling bin that don’t belong there, it can do a LOT of harm. It can even be DEADLY!
Here’s what we cover in this post:
- What is Wish-cycling?
- Why is wish-cycling dangerous?
- How to avoid wish-cycling
- What are the Rules of Recycling?
- Which items are the best to recycle?
- Which items should never go in curbside recycling?
What is Wish-cycling?
You’re a good person right? You hold the door for others, you haven’t murdered anyone so far, you’ve been practicing Precycling, and you recycle EVERY SINGLE THING YOU CAN POSSIBLY THINK MIGHT BE REYCYCLABLE.
Good right? Wrong.
This is what we call wish-cycling or aspirational recycling. It’s when you throw items into the recycling bin just hoping they can be recycled even if you don’t know for sure. I know you have good intentions for those items to get the maximum use out of those resources. We’ve likely all wish-cycled at some point. I know I am very guilty of it! You may think if there’s a small chance it is recyclable, I’ll just give it a go and if it’s not, I’m helping give someone a job to sort it. That’s nice of you to think that because you are a good person. After all, you’re here reading this right?
Here’s the thing… STOP THE WISH-CYLING!
Why is wish-cycling dangerous?
Those sanitation workers can be put in pretty grave danger when there is too much wish-cycling going on.
When workers are pulling trash off recycling lines, you know, the ones that go by them super fast, they can easily miss items. While workers are pulling off something that doesn’t belong there that you hoped would get recycled, they might not catch the piece of metal that jams up the machine. Someone has to crawl up there and fix it, it costs $150,000 and shuts down operations for hours or days. Or they might not see the lithium ion battery that could start the plant on fire and puts sanitation workers and firefighters lives in jeopardy.
There are about 3,500 fires and a dozen recycling facilities lost each year because of fires from items that shouldn’t have been in the recycling.
Dakota County, Kedward, Jenny. Master Recycler/ Composter Program, Fall 2019 class.
Without the machines to sort, other items won’t get recycled and end up in the landfill. Sanitation workers could lose out on work and items don’t get recycled.
The other issue is contamination
When people are wish-cycling and items are thrown in the recycling that don’t belong there, they can accidentally get missed on the sorting line and make the final product poor quality. Haulers get fined if they deliver a product that isn’t up to standards and that may get reflected in how much you end up paying for services.
There is an easy way to help keep your fellow community members safe!
The bottom line is, “When in doubt, throw it out”.
How to avoid Wish-cycling
Each hauler has lists of items they can and can not recycle. Check out their website first and if you have any other questions, pick up the phone and give them a call. I know that can be scary for some people these days but they probably greatly appreciate the fact that you are trying to do right and keep them safe, as well as employed.
I’m guessing you are probably the one in the house or office that peeks into the garbage every once in a while, finds something that could have been recycled and nags the offending family member or coworker about it. Try to avoid this when you can unless it is a dangerous item. For some people, these mistakes are wish-cycling, others, pure laziness and ignorance. Nagging will just piss people off and, for the ignorant ones, make them want to do it less. For items commonly put in the wrong spot, lead by example or put literal examples up somewhere where people can see them.
At home, you should be able to talk to your household about why recycling is personally important to you. At work, bring it up with management to see if they can implement any training or do a waste sort. Check with your county to see if there are any programs available to help businesses recycle like we have in Dakota County.
Your hauler may even have some printables or stickers to put right on the side of your can. Visuals can be especially helpful for teaching kids to recycle.
Play a sorting game with your kids! Pick some items you commonly have around your home and see how fast and accurate your family can sort them. Make it a game for a neighborhood BBQ and invite some more families to join over food and drinks!
One thing to keep in mind, is that multiple haulers may be picking up in your neighborhood. The issue of towns having open (individuals choose their own hauler) versus organized (the town chooses a hauler) is a pretty hot topic. We’ll talk more about it when we learn about landfills but I am in favor of an organized system. This article from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency adds some convincing numbers to the argument.
With open systems you can choose who picks up your trash but you also have multiple garbage trucks driving back and forth on garbage day, which is a worry for any parent with kids that might be out biking. This wears down roads significantly due to the weight of the trucks and ultimately costs home owners more for road repairs. And there is obviously more pollution from added truck emissions in an open system, especially since they are driving a less efficient route. The report above from the PCA also addresses the issues with price gouging, monopolies and small haulers. Just look at it. It’s short and sweet.
*Please take this as a handy guide but refer to your own hauler’s recommendations. These are the rules my hauler, Republic Services, uses.
Avoid Wish-cycling By Following These Basic Rules Of Recycling
#1- Just because it has the “recycling symbol”/ resin identification code, does not mean it’s recyclable with your hauler.
So here’s one of the great misunderstandings of our day. Those 3 little arrows circling around a number does not mean a product is recyclable.
WHAT?! I know, right?
It actually tells you what the item is made out of. You also have to make sure you understand which item it is referring to. According to the guy that gave us a tour of our recycling center, one of the most common things they see in curbside recycling that don’t belong there are dirty diapers! People see the symbol on the side of the cardboard box the diapers were sold in and think that it means recycle the diapers, not the cardboard! That’s NASTY. Plus, it is a huge health risk for sanitation workers.
Hard plastics like hangers or old laundry baskets usually won’t be recycled. Even though they have that number 5 on them, they are at the end of their recyclable journey. Toys usually have too many parts and colors to recycle curbside. Lately I’ve been seeing more programs like Terracycle pop up that are able to recycle toys! Of course if they are still useable, pass them along to someone else.
Unfortunately, some products are advertised as 100% recyclable but aren’t really recyclable. For example, there’s a shoe company that makes their shoes out of recycled pieces of something that can go on to be recycled again (awesome!). However, that’s only if the materials recovery facility recognizes that item as recyclable and not just a shoe (which is what would happen). If you buy an item like that, make sure you know where it has to be sent at the end of its life to be recycled.
#2-Clean, Empty, Dry, Caps On
A big part of this one is contamination of paper. If items are still dirty, they may contaminate the rest of your recycling (and your neighbor’s recycling!) and the paper will have to be thrown out. Contamination makes poor quality paper products. Your item should have less than one teaspoon of liquid or product in it. Leave caps on everything. Not all the caps will get recycled but some do and will get sorted out in the process. If caps are loose, they will not make it through the sorting machinery because they are too small.
#3-Keep all items loose and un-bagged
Items need to be loose so that both sorting machines and sanitation workers can see items in order to sort them. If they have to empty out a paper bag, that distracts from them catching other harmful items as previously mentioned. Items in plastic bags are usually just sent to landfill because there could be something dangerous or sharp in the bag workers can’t see. Some people use paper bags as liners so their recycling bin doesn’t get dirty but it shouldn’t be dirty anyways because all items should be clean and dry. That’s fine if you want to line your bin while it’s inside, just make sure it doesn’t go with your recycling when put outside. You should hear that sweet, sweet sound of all your items being dumped into your recycling bin! If you’ve never stopped to listen, try it! It’s the sound of helping the planet.
#4-For plastics, mostly just food and personal product containers are recycled. Only recycle number 1, 2 and 5 plastics that are not black and have not been in contact with household hazardous waste
There’s just not a market for #3, 4, 6, 7, or black plastics right now so they will likely just end up in landfills. Orange laundry detergent bottles and brightly colored construction paper are off-spec for color and are usually trash because the dyes can contaminate the paper pulp or plastic pellets. This may be different between haulers.
Never recycle a container that once held a household hazardous waste product such as cleaners. Usually, plastics get recycled back into food or personal care item containers. Think about what was in that container If you wouldn’t want to eat it or rub it all over your body, don’t recycle its packaging!
If you wouldn’t want to eat it or rub it all over your body, don’t recycle its packaging!
#5-Only recycle items larger than a Post-It note
Items smaller than a Post-it note (or credit card) won’t make it through the mechanical sorting machines.
For paper scraps, you can put small pieces into a large, used envelope and staple it shut. Don’t worry about staples, metal spirals from notebooks or plastic windows, they will get pulled out of the pulp. For lids from aluminum cans, put them inside a bigger can and then cinch the top closed when it’s full. With aluminum foil, save up smaller pieces, like lids from your yogurt containers, to make a ball at least 3 inches in diameter. Make sure it is all clean though. We have a small, organized recycling station under our kitchen sink to keep all these while they build up.
#6-No receipts, plastic bags/film/wrap in the recycling
Plastic bags clog up machinery and risk injury for workers who have to clean it out. There are special drop-off sites for plastic bags and film recycling. Receipts contain BPA from the process of thermal printing and are therefore a contaminant. Opt for no receipt or an emailed one when possible.
#7-When in doubt, throw it out.
Or call and ask. In our county, we jump on the Dakota County Recycling Guide online. It’s better for that item to end up in the trash versus covering up something dangerous in the sorting line.
So what are the best items to recycle?
Wish-cycling can do more harm than good but if you follow the basic rules of recycling it will make a BIG difference and simplify your life. You don’t have to feel guilty about throwing away something that you think may possibly be recyclable. Overall, the most important items you should try and make sure to get into the recycling are glass and aluminum since these can be recycled over and over again without any loss of quality. Office paper is great too, but is limited in the number of times it can be recycled.
Which items should never go in curbside recycling?
A few items that should never go in your curbside recycling bin are:
- Black plastic
- Items with more than 1 teaspoon of food or liquid
- Hard plastic hangers, laundry baskets or toys
- Receipts
- Plastic bags
- Paper towels and napkins
- Drinking glasses and mirrors
- Diapers
- Batteries
- Lightbulbs
- Food and yard waste
- Electronics and any type of cord/light string/ hoses
- Tires
- Needles, syringes or any sharps
Spending just a few minutes learning about how to recycle (hey! you just did that!) can save you a ton of time and questioning in the long haul. Sharing that info with your family in a fun way can help eliminate bad feelings over recycling the wrong way. Talk to the people in your house about why recycling is important to you personally. And remember, recycling isn’t what is going to save our world. Pre-cycling, reducing and reusing should be our first steps! You now have the info to make recycling more efficient and safer in your community!
- Look up your hauler and see what information they have on materials that can be recycled curbside. If anything is unclear, contact them!
- Think about the items you may have been wish-cycling. Forgive yourself, stop feeling bad about it and move on!
- Talk with your household or workplace about what you’ve learned. Play a sorting game if you have kids and make sure they know the correct bins to use. For kids, have them go through magazines to hunt for pictures of things that are recyclable or not! Make a collage.
- Put up labels, pictures or examples of items to remind your family or workplace what goes where.
- Find out if your community uses an open or organized hauling system. Contact community leaders to urge them to use an organized system if they are not already. \
- Get in the habit of looking for that resin identification code on the products you are disposing of.
