Within Lorain County, these five core items should go into your curbside recycling bin:
Cans, Cartons, Glass, Paper / Boxes, and Plastic Bottles / Jugs.
Ways to Recycle Right:
- Leave Recyclables Loose
Plastic bags do not belong in your recycling bin or cart. Plastic bags get tangled in the sorting machines at the recycling facilities and cause major problems for the recycling process.
- Clean and Empty
Rinse residue from cartons, containers, bottles and jars or any other recyclable that may contain food particles.
*Greasy pizza boxes are not accepted.*
- Keep it Dry
When it comes to paper and cardboard, keeping it dry is imperative for the recycling process. All cardboard boxes should be flatten when placed in your recycling bin.
- Don’t Wishcycle
Think you can throw everything into your recycling bin and it will get sorted out at the recycling plant? Think again. Recycling only the 5 core items is paramount.
"When in doubt, throw it out!"
When non-recyclable items go into your recycling bin this is considered contamination.
When the load of recyclables arrives at the material recovery facility (MRF) to be sorted, those pieces of contamination have to be sorted out. This is costly and takes a lot of extra time.
When truck of recyclables arrive at the MRF it is checked and depending on the level of contamination – could result in an increase in processing fees or a fine to the city where it came from, if heavily contaminated, could be diverted to the landfill. YIKES!