What You Need to Know About Recycling

Recycling is a great way to help conserve natural resources and improve the environment. From place to place, the general recycling rules are the same, but every community has their own quirks when it comes to what you can recycle.

Ask your local recycling center or waste management provider to see what can be recycled in your neighborhood.

Here are the most common types of recyclable materials to check on in your neighborhood.

Paper

If you can tear the paper, it's usually safe to recycle. The only exceptions to this are paper or cardboard that's wet or soiled with food – so no pizza boxes stained with grease.

Newspapers, loose papers, old greeting cards, envelopes and even old phone books are all easy to recycle curbside or in neighborhood bins. Some paper can even be recycled up to 10 times and then processed into toilet paper or paper towels.

Glass

Glass is one of the heaviest materials to recycle and can be difficult to transport because it breaks so easily. It's also tough to separate at the facility, so a lot of places don't accept it. Check with your local recycling providers to find how to recycle glass in your area.

If your provider does accept it, keep in mind that any glass made to withstand high heat (e.g. a baking dish) is not recyclable because it can't be broken down, so don't bother with those.

Plastic

Most people think if it's plastic, it's recyclable, but that's not the case. Plastic products will have a triangle of arrows with a number inside the triangle somewhere on the bottle. This will tell you what the plastic is made of and if it's recyclable. If you see a 3 or a 5, for example, you're probably out of luck. The composition of those types of plastics makes it impossible for most facilities to break them down.

And plastic bags (like the ones you get at grocery stores) are often not accepted in curbside containers, so bag them up and take them back to the grocery store for mass recycling.

Metals

Almost anything that's made of aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, steel or tin can be recycled, often several times over. Food and beverage cans, clean aluminum foil, disposable bakeware items and foil tops from your yogurt are all recyclable in your curbside bin.

But don't be so quick to trash all your metals – see if you can scrap them for cash. Items like pots and pans, wire hangers or appliances made of metal can be recycled. Items only need to be made of 50 percent metal to be accepted, so think about the makeup of all your products. And, of course, check with your local scrap yard before you haul your heavy metals over there.

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