By Bree Coven in the Seattle Times (thanks to Marilyn W.)
You dutifully toss your soda cans and last week’s newspaper in the bin and wheel it out to the curb every other week. But are you recycling right?
Seattle has some of the highest recycling rates in the U.S., with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)’s program recycling nearly three-quarters of all recyclable packaging and paper products discarded by residents, Susan Fife-Ferris, director of SPU’s solid waste planning and program management, told The Seattle Times in November. Local organizations and businesses, community events and Ridwell’s subscription service all help reduce waste, too.
Yet questions remain. Fortunately, the answers — and many solutions for the things you don’t want or can’t use anymore — are out there.
“Climate anxiety seems to be at an all-time high,” says Kyleigh Turk-Polifko, owner of PUBLIC, a sustainable goods and refill shop in West Seattle with low-waste home and personal care options. “Instead of letting that take us to a place of paralysis, we keep encouraging our community to look for ways to make an impact locally. Recycling correctly is one way you can make an individual difference.”
Everything in its place
Seattle Public Utilities asks residents to focus on the top five types of recyclables: paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal. SPU spells out best practices on its website. First, make sure each item is actually recyclable. SPU’s online Where Does It Go Tool lists thousands of items (searchable by name and item category) and is available in 14 languages.
Gotta keep it separated
One of the biggest recycling misconceptions is assuming the recycling facility can easily separate items placed in the bin, says Jay Simmons, packaging product development manager from North Pacific Paper Company (NORPAC) in Longview, Wash. (norpacpaper.com).
“For example, someone might put a strand of broken Christmas lights into their recycling bin, expecting that the recycling facility is capable of separating the bulbs, insulation and copper/aluminum wiring for processing to make new products,” Simmons says. “In reality, there is no technology that can do this and those strands of Christmas lights will degrade the separation efficiency of other products.”
Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) process 200 to 500 tons per day with highly automated equipment, Simmons says. Anything that interferes with that hands-free process creates inefficiencies downstream.
Another misconception, he says, is some consumers think items put into a recycling bin are just being transferred to the solid waste dump. They’re not.
Keep it clean
If you’re going to recycle, recycle right, Turk-Polifko says.
“It’s so important to make sure your items are clean and dry before putting them in your bin,” she says. “That is the standard for all recycling programs (including our in-shop beauty recycling program) so other recyclables aren’t contaminated.”
One water- and timesaving strategy her shoppers use is to keep a tub under the sink for recyclables that need cleaning and wash them all at once when it’s full.
No bags allowed
Place recyclables loose into the container. Do not bag them. Plastic bags have not been accepted in the recycling cart since 2019 and actually damage the machinery at the recycling centers. Heather Trim, executive director of Zero Waste Washington, which is working to make trash obsolete through policy, on-the-ground projects and research, says plastic bags, plastic wrap, flexible film and candy wrappers cause major problems. They wrap around and clog the equipment of the recycling facility. “For every eight-hour shift, they have to close it down for an hour to cut the plastic off the metal rollers,” she says.
Instead, bring plastic grocery bags to take-back bins in local grocery stores like Fred Meyer, QFC, Safeway, Haggen and Albertsons, where they are collected and often sent NexTrex, which mixes them with sawdust to create plastic lumber decking and benches. (continued)