Moved To A New Area? Time To Figure Out How To Recycle Your Waste

26 December 2018
 Categories: , Blog

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If you recently moved to a new area, then it is important you figure out how recycled materials are handled in the area. While you might assume recycling of household waste products would be the same in every area of the country, unfortunately, this just isn't the case. Some towns offer curbside recycling of nearly every household waste product, while others offer no curbside service and accept only a smaller list of products at local recycling centers or landfills.

Below is a list of the five most common household items in need of recycling and thoughts about where you may be able to do so in your new area.

Metal Recycling

Both common and precious metals can be recycled at community-owned and privately-owned recycling centers in nearly every town or city.

Some communities offer curbside collection of soda cans, canned food cans, and other household metal products. In areas where this is offered, you should wash off the metal products to remove food and then place them all into the recycling can together.

Glass Recycling 

If you purchase beer, wine, or soda in glass bottles and want to recycle them to get your deposit back, often you can take them into the grocery store where you purchased them. Also, community recycling centers and curbside programs often will take clear glass such as spaghetti jars as long as they have been cleaned.

Plastic Recycling Services

Plastic recycling services are more complicated than glass or metal recycling. There are many different types and grades of consumer plastics and which options are and are not accepted varies from one plastic scrap recycling company to another. 

Before you start tossing plastic into the trash can, find out what types of plastic are recyclable in your area and determine if you can get a curbside pickup or need to take the items to a recycling center yourself. 

Unwanted House Paint

If you are doing a lot of painting in your new home or if you found a selection of old paints stored in the garage when you moved in, then you can often recycle them for free at your local transfer station or landfill. Additionally, it is also an acceptable option to open each can, let the paint dry until it is solid, and then toss the dry paint and can into your household trash can.

E-Waste Recycling Options

Finally, it is important you don't toss broken or outdated electronics into your household trash because they contain hazardous materials and rare earth metals that should be recycled. While your local landfill may take in e-waste for recycling, there are also likely businesses in your area that accept donations of unwanted electronics for parts and school fundraisers where they collect e-waste and recycle it to fund programs.