Busting the Top 10 Recycling Myths

I haven’t talked about recycling in well over a year. It used to be my bread and butter, and I thought it was high time we visited it.

I know, recycling isn’t the end all be all of living zero waste. It’s a great thing for us to do when we recycle correctly, and we should not give up recycling, but zero waste is so much more than using your blue curbside bin. Let’s also focus on reducing our single-use items, reusing the as much as we can, refilling them at a bulk store, and then using the recycling bin as a last resort.

So, let’s bust some common recycling myths!

Myth 1: Recycling is a scam, and nothing is recycled

FALSE! To be fair, recycling is not great. Plastic rates are around 5-10%, around 30% for glass, around 60% for paper, and around 90% for metal. So, as you can see, recycling of some materials is hugely beneficial and nowhere close to a scam.

But, maybe you’ve seen your garbage truck taking your recycling…does that make recycling a scam? No, that most likely means someone is doing their job incorrectly. If you witness this, call your city’s recycling facility and see if you can make a report or get some insight as to what is going on.

Plus, we DO have part of the responsibility here. We are responsible for what goes in our bins and what doesn’t. So, make sure you’re following the rules. The more we all follow the rules, the better our rates become! Make sure your recycling is clean and dry (more on this later) and that you only place accepted materials in the bin; no trash, no compost, and no wishcycling.

Myth 2: Everything is recyclable

TRUE AND FALSE! Technically speaking, yes everything does have the potential to be recycled. BUT!!! This does not mean you can put every single thing in your curbside recycling bin. Every item requires different recycling facilities and processes, from rigid plastic to thin plastic to electronics to clothing and everything in between. Yes, glass is highly recyclable, but your city might not have a glass recycling facility, meaning it is not accepted in your local curbside bin. Yes, in theory, that thin plastic bag CAN be recycled, but that doesn’t mean it’s accepted in your region.

Check your local rules before putting anything in your bin. If you want to reduce what you send to the landfill, check out special programs like Terracycle to help you recycle your odds and ends.

Myth 3: Everything with a recycling symbol is recyclable

TRUE AND FALSE! Again, it’s a technicality. Every material is assigned a recycling code. Maybe you’ve seen a plastic water bottle with a recycling symbol with a 1 on the inside. This is its “resin identification code” or RIC. You can learn more about the 7 main types of plastic here. Even paper types, metal types, and glass types are assigned these codes.

This does not make them acceptable for your curbside bin, though. Once again, check your local rules. This code is meant for recyclers and businesses who buy recycled material. It helps them sort and properly recycle items based on their chemical makeup. Not everything can be recycled together!

This had a RIC #5 which is not recyclable in my area so I repurposed it instead :)

Myth 4: All paper products are recyclable

FALSE! Didn’t I just highlight the high rates of paper recycling? Yes, and that’s stuff like printer paper, newspaper, boxes, and paperboard. But, think about other papers you use in your life: tissues, napkins, and toilet paper just to name a few. That stuff is NOT recyclable for one reason: contamination. Recycling has to be clean to ensure a good batch of recycled materials for someone to use later down the line. No one wants your snot in their recycled paper notebook.

But what about things like greasy pizza boxes? It really depends on the level of food contamination. If the box has sticky cheese and crusty bread attached to it, compost or landfill it. But if it’s just a few splotches of grease and you’ve removed the rest of the food residue, this is fine. The American Forest and Paper Association confirms that unless your box is literally saturated front to back with grease, a little grease won’t do any harm. But, if you’re still wary about this, cut out the greasy parts, compost them, and recycle the clean parts. It doesn’t hurt to go the extra step!

Myth 5: Recyclables have to be squeaky clean

FALSE! But, they do have to be somewhat clean, as we just discussed. For example, your peanut butter jar with an entire coat of residue on the inside should not be recycled. But that can of beans doesn’t have to be scrubbed with a brush and soap. A quick rinse to get out the remaining bin liquid will get the job done.

So, yes, your recycling does have to be clean and dry, but just relatively clean. Recycling does get washed before being recycled, but since we have single-stream recycling (a bin in which we place all of our recycling instead of sorting it) in most parts of the US, cleanliness is important. It’s easy for glass and metal to be heated and sanitized, but you cannot clean paper once it’s dirty. Your contaminated cans may contaminate the rest of the bin, rendering none of it recyclable and all of it destined for the landfill.

My lazy hack here is to throw metal, glass, and thick plastic into the dishwasher! More lazy ways I live zero waste here.

Myth 6: Single-use plastic gets turned back into new single-use plastic

FALSE! Plastic is actually what we call downcycled. This means that it is downgraded into something else, such as a park bench, a piece of clothing, or kitchen utensils. This is very valuable to continue to use recycled materials across all areas of human life, but this isn’t great news since it likely won’t get recycled again.

And that’s the case for all plastic. Plastic can really only be recycled once or twice before the polymers get too small to be recycled again. This is not the case for metal and glass, which never lose any structural integrity and can be recycled over and over and over again, often turning back into more single-use items. This makes glass and metal recycling even more valuable, but also shows why plastic recycling is not prioritized.

Myth 7: I can put my bioplastics in the recycling bin

TRUE AND FALSE! It depends on your local recycling facility. If only I had a dollar for every time I said that! Bioplastics function the same as oil-based plastic (yes, plastic is made from oil, learn more here) except they are made from plants. They even have the same chemical makeup! This makes them recyclable with their counterparts. For example, a PET bottle, or polyethylene terephthalate, made of oil-based plastic or plant-based plastics can be recycled together…usually! Do not take this as a reason to recycle your bioplastics. Again, ask your local municipality first.

The main problem here is that bioplastics are not usually being substituted for rigid plastics. They most often take the place of thin plastics like bags, makeup wipes, and things of that nature. And thin plastics are rarely recycled, whether they are made of plants or oil.

Does this mean you should compost bioplastics? Maybe! As you can see, bioplastics are tricky. They cannot always be composted in a backyard compost. Many require commercial settings, which are not all that common right now.

Does this mean we shouldn’t buy bioplastics since they are hard to recycle and compost? Well, plastic is never great, no matter how it’s made, but bioplastics are less polluting to create than oil-based plastics. Plus, they won’t break down into microplastics. There are still benefits despite being heavily flawed and nuanced. You can learn more here.

Myth 8: You can recycle paper without removing plastic and metal components

TRUE! Things like staples, tape, and plastic windows on pasta boxes are usually (you know what I’m gonna say: check your local rules first) just fine to leave on the paper. Why? Isn’t recycling mixed materials bad? Yes, usually. Things like toothpaste tubes that are partially plastic and partially metal cannot be recycled since they combine different materials. So, why is paper different?

Well, it’s very easy to separate these in the paper recycling process. Paper needs to be turned into a watery pulp to be turned into new paper. So, when it gets soggy, the plastic and metal components release from the paper parts, and it can all be sifted out to ensure a 100% paper pulp.

Now, I still recommend you remove these yourself at home if you have the time and ability to do so, just to ensure less contamination in the recycling process. Again, the better we follow the recycling rules and aid the entire system, the better it all becomes.

Myth 9: You can recycle cartons

TRUE AND FALSE! From ice cream tubs to milk cartons and things of that nature, these are often called things like cartonboard or Tetrapak, a brand name, like Kleenex. These are a mixed material made out of paper, metal, and plastic, making them very difficult to recycle. So, yes, in theory, they CAN be recycled, and recycling rates ARE on the rise for cartons. But it is still very uncommon to be able to recycle them.

Can you guess what I’m going to say here? Check your local rules! I’ve had access to carton recycling in Las Vegas and in Ohio, but not in Washington, Minnesota, or now, in Northern California. It’s pretty hit or miss, and this helps me determine which plant milk I should buy.

I did a full deep dive on this unique material in this video.

Myth 10: My job is done once I place items in the bin

TRUE AND FALSE! If you’re a big fan of recycling, your thoughts about it shouldn’t end when you place that bottle in the recycling bin. You should also support the recycling industry on the other end! Recycling is a business. If no one buys recycled materials, there won’t ever be a need to collect your blue bin and take the time, energy, resources, and money to recycle it into something else.

So, shop for recycled paper notebooks and recycled plastic clothing and recycled glass bottles. Supporting the recycling industry means conserving energy, conserving water, and preventing all of these resources from being extracted in new ways. We can reuse what’s already been extracted and keep the loop closed to participate in a circular economy.

You can learn more about which material is the best in this video, in which we cover the benefits of recycling each material.

I’m sure there are more, so drop your common recycling myths below and let’s bust those myths about recycling in a future video!

As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)

Emma