Are you a ‘wishful recycler?’
Lee Nessel
My name is Lee and I’m a wishful recycler. I didn’t know it, though, until my enlightening conversation with Amy Boyson of Waste Management.
For years, I’ve been tossing the plastic containers from berries into my recycle cart, along with many things I thought should go in because they all bear the three-arrows recycle symbol.
And they likely can be recycled — somewhere, just not here in Brevard County’s single-stream recycling program. My mind was blown when I learned I was recycling “wrong.” I thought I was doing good, but in fact some of what I’ve been doing has not been helping the process.
When we moved into our home a few years ago, we actually traded in our 18-gallon recycle bin for the mammoth 96-galloner. Regular Amazon deliveries piled up the cardboard and we added plenty more — anything plastic or glass. We religiously filled that can every week and occasionally had extra that had to wait until the next haul.
This is why I’m thrilled that we have an article from Waste Management on pages 44-45 clarifying how we can all be “good recyclers” instead of wishful ones. Amy said to think about recycling by shape: Bottles (neck is smaller than the base), jugs (have a handle like laundry detergent), tubs (applesauce, yogurt), aluminum, cardboard and paper.
Make sure all containers are empty. Liquids and food contaminate the cardboard — if it’s wet, it has no value. One of WM’s mottos: “When in doubt, throw it out.” So, now I tell myself that, trying to get over the guilt of putting certain items into the garbage can. But I have to get over it. Our single-stream program has guidelines for a reason.
I know you’re curious about glass — I was, too. Waste Management sells recyclables to manufacturers who make new things. Glass is listed as acceptable to recycle in the residential program although no company in Florida takes glass to make new products. Glass can break when the truck dumps your cart contents or when the haul is dumped at the facility, possibly contaminating the cardboard. WM sells glass or gives it back to the landfill, where it’s used as road surface. Recycling glass is a personal choice, but the environmental impact is far less when compared to recycling plastic, paper, cardboard and aluminum.
The products that have the most environmental impact — not glass — are what we all should be focused on recycling. For example, making paper requires cutting down trees, so it’s of high value to recycle paper.
“The problem that we are seeing is that people are overthinking recycling way too much: ‘The more I recycle, the more impact I’m going to have,’ and that’s simply not the case,” Amy said.
And all of the wishful recyclers are contributing to the 30% contamination rate in our area — those things that don’t need to be in the cart are ruining the things that otherwise could be recycled. Please join me as a recovering wishful recycler.
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