I see this today about recycling in some jurisdiction- it seems like what I'm hearing locally and makes sense to read.
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OCRRA now asks residents to IGNORE NUMBERS on plastic items and only pay attention to the SHAPE of an item. Numbers are not a good indicator of recyclability as they simply indicate the TYPE of plastic an item is made from, not if it is recyclable. You can have two items made of the same number plastic, but they are not both able to be recycled in your recycling bin.
The ONLY plastic items that go in the recycle bin are plastic BOTTLES, JUGS, JARS and plastic stackable DAIRY TUBS (this also applies to tubs that contain dairy alternatives, such as vegan "butter," etc.). Container descriptions: Please rinse and place the following items in your blue bin. They can also be taken to OCRRA's Rock Cut Road Drop-Off Site for recycling.
• BOTTLE* - something that has a neck and a smaller opening than base (typically has threads at the neck for a screw on cap - can be food bottles such as condiment bottles or toiletry bottles like shampoo, body wash, etc.),
• JUG* - something with a handle - like a milk jug or laundry detergent bottle,
• JAR* - same as the bottle description. Some examples are: jelly jar, pickle jar, tomato sauce jar, etc.
• WIDE-MOUTH, STACKABLE DAIRY TUB – any tub that previously contained a DAIRY product like butter, yogurt, Cool Whip, cream cheese, etc. It must be able to nest inside itself though. If you can't stack one of the same item within itself, then they are not recyclable. Empty, rinse and reattach lid.
*Residents can choose how they manage the PLASTIC caps to their bottles/jugs/jars. They can either be removed from the bottle and thrown in the trash, or they can go in the blue bin, but only if attached to the bottle. To prevent them from "falling through the cracks" during the recycling process, follow these simple steps:
Remove cap.
Rinse bottle (do NOT crush - the 3-D nature of a bottle helps keep it separate from paper at the recycling sorting facility).
Replace cap.
Place in blue bin.
METAL caps go in the trash. They will be recovered at the Waste-to-Energy Facility and recycled. Each year 10,000 tons of metal are recycled this way! You can watch a video about the Waste-to-Energy process here:
https://ocrra.org/services/dis...
Also recyclable are cartons - think milk or juice cartons - cardboard, newspaper, magazines, catalogs, softcover books, paperboard boxes - like cereal, pasta, tissue - office paper, mail and NON-frozen food boxes.
If you find yourself having to ask yourself too many questions when deciding if something goes in the bin vs. not, it should go in the trash to avoid contaminating the other recyclables.
