Transcript In the Bin! - Chelmsford CAN

In the Bin!
Everything You Always
Wanted to Know About
Recycling, But Were Afraid
to Ask
Chelmsford’s Recycling History
• Chelmsford has had a strong
recycling program for many years!
• The vast majority of residents participate
(between 80 and 90% on most routes!)
• Since implementing our “mandatory
recycling” bylaw in 2006, more residents
recycle now than ever before.
Recycling is NOT immune to a
down economy
• Recycling facilities (MRFs) and
haulers are businesses – if they don’t
make money, they will not stay in business!
• When the economy slows down, manufacturers
do not need the materials in our bins as much as
they do in a booming economy and the price for
these materials drops
• Now, recycling facilities (“MRFs”) must keep
their costs to a minimum to survive
Recycling facilities, haulers and
residents must adjust to this down
economy
• MRFs are seeking to reduce costs by
reducing contamination.
• Contamination is expensive to deal with
• MRFs must pay to remove and
dispose of contaminants.
What is contamination?
• Contamination means the
presence of any material not
recyclable at that facility, or
different kinds of recyclables
mixed together. Because
Chelmsford does “dual
stream” recycling, if you put
newspapers loose in a bin
with water bottles, those
recyclables are contaminated
even though everything in the
bin is recyclable!
What does “dual stream” mean?
Fiber
Commingled containers
With dual stream recycling, the two streams
must not be mixed!
Dual stream means sorting at the
source (i.e., at your home ) because:
• The hauler puts your
paper and cardboard
(fiber) into one
section of the
recycling truck.
• The hauler then
dumps your bottles,
cans and other
containers into a
different section of
the recycling truck
• Each part of
the truck is
emptied at a
different
section of the
MRF. If fiber
and containers
are mixed
together, that
load is
contaminated.
Recyclable fiber at a Massachusetts MRF.
How do loads get contaminated?
• Contamination
happens when
residents don’t know
what to recycle
• Contamination
happens when
residents don’t set
recycling out properly
• Some residents put
items in the bin and
“hope for the best”
Common Contaminants
• Plastic bags – even
plastic bags with the
recycling symbol!
• NO PLASTIC BAGS
IN RECYCLING – NO
RECYCLING IN
PLATIC BAGS!
• Plastic bags ARE
recyclable – but not in
your curbside bin. All
Chelmsford grocery
stores accept clean
grocery bags for
recycling.
What’s the problem with plastic
bags?
MRFs in the area are largely automated and plastic
bags get tangled in the machinery.
Imagine trying
to pull
plastic bags
out of this
pile of
recyclable
paper!
Another common contaminant
• Styrofoam®
and other
“foamed” or
expanded
plastics EVEN
if they have a
recycling
symbol
Some #6 plastic is recyclable
While Styrofoam and other
“foamed” or expanded
polystyrene (EPS) are not
collected for recycling, other #6
plastic which is firm and
usually clear or black in color
can go in your bin.
Some plastic cups and take out
containers are made out of
recyclable #6 plastic.
Why don’t we recycle
Styrofoam® ?
• In order for something to be “recyclable,” someone must
want to buy it (and for more than it costs to collect,
transport and bale it!)
• In order to want to buy it, someone needs to come up
with a good way to make it into something else.
• Styrofoam® is NOT recycled because there is no market
for it – i.e., no one wants to buy it.
• AVOID Styrofoam® - but if you end up with some, find
reuse options or put it in the trash.
• Packaging peanuts – clean packaging peanuts can be
taken to the UPS store at the Drum Hill Rotary for reuse.
The recession’s impact on your bin!
• The MRFs need to keep their costs down
• They can do that by reducing contamination
• MRFs have told haulers that if they deliver
loads with more than an acceptable level of
contamination, the MRFs will charge the
haulers a higher tipping fee
• To avoid higher tipping fees, the haulers will
not pick up bins that contain contaminants
When times were good . . .
• MRFs could afford to absorb the costs
associated with removing contaminants
because they were getting a good price for
the recyclables!
• MRFs even encouraged residents to err on
the side of recycling in the hopes of
recovering more actual recyclables
• Haulers would empty bins EVEN IF they
contained contaminants or mixed materials!
We NEED MRFs and Haulers to
survive this downturn
• Chelmsford’s recycling
program cannot exist
without haulers and
MRFs!
• If they go out of
business, that is very
bad news for municipal
recycling programs
and for the planet!
What does this mean for
Chelmsford residents trying to do
the right thing?
First, since
January, 2009
the MRFs no
longer want ANY
part of pizza
boxes in the
recycling bins!
WHY pizza boxes?
• In the past, only the CLEAN, non-greasy,
non-contaminated portion of the pizza box
should have gone in the recycling bin.
• Some people put whole pizza boxes
including contaminated portions into the
recycling bins.
• It only takes a small amount of grease, oil
or food to contaminate an entire batch of
paper in the process of being recycled and
ruin the whole batch!
• MRFs can’t afford to inspect every pizza
box
• Paper manufacturers can’t afford to get
any contaminated pizza boxes
• Until further notice, NO PIZZA BOXES IN
THE RECYCLING BINS!
• If you put pizza boxes in your bin, the
hauler is not required to pick it up.
What to do with pizza boxes
now?
• Pizza boxes may go into the trash. Because
they are considered “contaminated” they are not
included in the cardboard waste ban.
• Pizza boxes can be composted in your backyard
composter. Tear into pieces and don’t worry
about small amounts of grease or food
contamination in your compost.
• If you don’t compost but would like to start,
contact the Recycling Office!
Reducing contamination will mean
change for some residents
• Residents who put their recyclables out in
plastic bags and became accustomed to
the bins being emptied are finding their
bins rejected.
• Residents who put Styrofoam in their bins
are having their bins rejected.
• Residents who mixed paper/fiber and
containers are having their bins rejected.
Change is frustrating but . . .
PLEASE KEEP
RECYCLING!
It really is more
important now
than ever before!
Recycling saves the Town Money!
We pay the incinerator by the ton to burn
everything in the trash truck. When
recyclable material ends up in the trash
truck, our tax dollars literally go up in
smoke!
Waste bans!
• Most of the materials we recycle (paper
and cardboard, most plastic bottles, metal
cans, etc.) are banned from incinerators
by state-wide waste bans.
• To comply with state law, to save money
and the planet, we MUST keep recycling.
• We just need to recycle smartly!
Back to dual stream!
What belongs in
the two streams of
“dual stream”
recycling?
Fiber
• Recyclable Fiber –
includes just about
any kind of paper
and cardboard you
can think of –
newspaper and
glossy inserts,
magazines, school
paper, junk mail,
boxes, cardboard
tubes, etc.
Exceptions: do NOT recycle photo
paper, carbon or tissue paper, paper
towel, paper cups or plates, or any
paper that is contaminated with food or
grease).
Also, pizza boxes and hardcover books
are not currently accepted with
curbside recycling.
Staples, paper clips, metal spirals
can stay!
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You do not need to remove staples.
You do not need to remove paper clips
You do not need to remove metal spirals in notebooks.
Window envelopes and self stick labels are okay!
Examples of “fiber”
Paper: Recycle all of your clean newspaper and glossy inserts;
magazines and catalogs; junk mail, greeting cards and envelopes
(window envelopes are okay); office, school paper and computer
paper; construction and craft paper; manila envelopes and file
folders; telephone books, etc
More examples of fiber
• Recycle your “chipboard”
meaning the kind of
cardboard used to make
cereal boxes. Recycle
all of your cereal boxes,
tissue boxes, and other
similar boxes, as well as
the tubes inside toilet
paper and paper towel
rolls. Flatten all of your
chipboard and recycle it
with your other paper.
Corrugated cardboard
• Corrugated cardboard: this refers to the
heavy duty ridged cardboard used to make
packing cartons. Corrugated boxes must
be flattened, cut down to no larger than 3
ft. x 3 ft. and tied or taped in bundles no
larger than 3 ft. by 3 ft. by 1 ft.
File folders
Paper bags –
Flyers
with handles
Glossy paper
Paper towel and
Booklets
Greeting cards
toilet paper
Books – soft cover
Hanging file folders
tubes
Boxes – for office supplies, Lottery tickets
Pendaflex
like paper clips
Mail Magazines
hanging file
Boxes – cereal, shoe, cracker,Mat board – used in
folders
pasta, etc.
picture framing
Phone Books
Boxes – with plastic windows
Math paper – graph
Photocopies
Brochures – including glossy
and ledger, etc.
Post-it notes
Calendars – wall type
Newspapers – with or
Receipts
Cardboard – corrugated and
without inserts
paperboard
Shredded paper
Newsprint
Catalogs
in paper bags
Charlie cards – paper MBTA Office and copy paper
Spiral
Packing paper
tickets
notebooks
Paper – lined and white
Clasp envelopes
Writing tablets
Paper – fax
Colored paper
Construction and kraft paper Paper bags – brown
Cover and card stock, index and white
cards
www.massrecyclespaper.org/paperlist.html
Envelopes – with plastic
windows and/or labels
Recycle . . .
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More on
cardboard . . .
• Why so picky on the size of cardboard
recycled at the curb? On your next
recycling day, take a good look at the
rectangular troughs on the side of the
recycling truck. Cardboard over 3x3x1 will
not fit and will get stuck when they try to tip
it into the truck’s center compartment.
Corrugated Cardboard dumpster
• There is a cardboard dumpster behind the Town
Offices.
• It is for resident’s (no businesses!) flattened
corrugated cardboard only, and ONLY on
those occasions when a resident has so much
cardboard that curbside recycling would present
a hardship.
• No chip board or other paper -while mixing
these materials in your paper grocery bags or
tied bundles for curbside recycling is fine, the
cardboard dumpster is for corrugated
cardboard ONLY!
• NO Styrofoam or other packaging material!
How to recycle your paper,
cardboard and other fiber:
Put paper,
chipboard and
cardboard in
paper grocery
bags or tie in
bundles.
Put your bagged
or bundled paper
At the curb in a
manner that
allows the hauler
to pick it up
easily, neatly,
quickly and
separately from
your recyclable
containers.
Put bags/bundles:
• In a recycling bin;
• On top of your
recycling bins
filled with bottles
and cans;
•On top of your well marked
recycling barrels holding your loose
bottles/cans, or
•On the ground next to the bins or
barrels.
Paper bags for
paper recycling:
paper loose in the bin
causes litter when the
paper blows out or if it
spills when bins are
emptied on windy days.
If you have no paper
bags, tie paper in
bundles.
• We’d love to see EVERYONE using reusable
shopping bags. But be sure to request that some of
your groceries be bagged in paper every few shopping
trips. That way you’ll have a supply of paper bags so
you are always ready to recycle your paper!
The “other” stream
The non-fiber stream has
gone by various names:
“bottles and cans,”
“commingled containers”
and simply “containers”
are some of the ways
we’ve referred to this
stream.
What’s in a name?
It might not change the smell of a rose – but
it helps determine what’s in your bin!
• Recent attempts at naming the stream
have been under- or over-inclusive.
• When we called this stream
“commingled containers,” many folks
were confused and some included their
chipboard boxes (which should be
recycled with paper) and plastic bags
(which shouldn’t be in the bin at all)
loose in the bin with bottles and cans.
When we just called
this stream “bottles
and cans,” some
residents thought they
could no longer
recycle their yogurt
and deli containers,
aluminum foil, their
milk and juice cartons,
or their plastic egg
cartons, etc.
If we call this stream “glass,
metal and plastic,” we get
material in the bins such as
old pots and pans and
plumbing parts, drinking
glasses, plastic toys and
vinyl siding. All of those
items may be recyclable, but
not by the MRFs that take
our curbside recyclables.
Is “Commingled containers, bottles and
cans, marked plastic containers,
aluminum foil, milk and juice cartons,
etc.” too long for a name?
Since it’s not easy to
come up with a good
name for the stream,
we’ll tell you what it
includes and how to
prepare and recycle
these materials.
Glass
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Recycle any unbroken glass bottle or jar.
Any color glass is acceptable.
Rinse well
Recycle lids only if they have a recycling
symbol
• Labels and neck rings may stay on (labels
may be removed and recycled with paper if
you like)
• No broken glass with recycling.
• No drinking glasses, vases or window glass
(they are a different kind of glass and
cannot be recycled with bottles and jars).
Metal cans and foil
• Cans should be well rinsed.
• Cans may be crushed (to make
more room in your bins and
more room in the truck!)
• Labels may stay on (but if you
remove labels, recycle labels
with paper).
• Recycle clean aluminum pie
type pans and clean foil with
containers.
PLASTIC
In Chelmsford, you can recycle plastic
containers marked 1 through 7 EXCEPT
for STYROFOAM® in your curbside bins.
(And just to be clear, a plastic bag is not considered a container.)
What are these symbols?
• These are “resin identification codes”
• The symbols tell manufacturers what kind of
plastic was used to make a particular item.
• Because there are many different kinds of
plastic, each with different functions and
characteristics, manufacturers must know the
resin content of plastic in order to know
whether they can use it.
• Just because you see this symbol does NOT
automatically mean you can recycle that item
in your bin
How to recycle plastic:
• REMOVE CAPS: leaving lids on
water and other bottles can cause
safety hazards when the bottles
are processed and baled.
• Recycle caps only if they have one
of the resin identification symbols.
• Even if caps do have symbols, they
are usually made of a different
plastic than the bottle.
How to recycle plastic containers:
• Check for one of the symbols
through .
• These symbols are usually found on the
bottom of the container.
• If the container has such a symbol AND it is
not Styrofoam® (and it is not a plastic bag)
recycle it in your bin or well
marked recycling barrel.
How to recycle plastic
containers:
• Rinse
• Remove lids
• Neck rings and labels are
okay
• Crush if possible
• Put the containers in your
recycling bin or well marked
recycling barrel along with
your glass and metal
containers and milk and juice
cartons
Plastics you should NOT recycle
at the curb:
• unmarked plastic (i.e., anything that does not
have one of the resin identification symbols);
• foamed plastic such as Styrofoam® (meat trays,
coffee cups, packing material, etc.) even if it
HAS the symbol; and
• plastic bags even if they have a recycling
symbol. (Most grocery stores have receptacles
for recycling marked plastic bags)
• Containers that held any hazardous products
Examples of recyclable plastic
containers
Note that
recycling
symbols
are
sometimes
hard to find!
Cartons
Gable top cartons
are made out of
paper, but they
should be rinsed
and recycled with
your other
containers (i.e.,
with your glass
bottles and jars,
metal cans and
plastic containers).
Gable top cartons should
be recycled with your
containers.
Chip board boxes
(cereal, rice, cookie
boxes, etc.) should be
flattened and recycled
with paper and other
fiber.
Deposit bottles and cans
• Deposit bottles and cans can be
recycled at the curb.
• Rinse and place loose in bin or well
marked recycling container.
• Do NOT put beer bottles or cans back
into cardboard cartons for recycling –
by doing so you are mixing paper and
containers!
• Even better than recycling deposit
bottles and cans at the curb, take to a
Chelmsford Friends of Music bottle
and can drive to help raise funds for
Chelmsford music programs. Go to
www.cfom.org for more information.
Recycling your containers:
All of your bottles, cans,
foil, and other
containers can be mixed
together in your
recycling bin or well
marked recycling barrel.
Stickers for recycling
barrels are free at the
Town Offices
Where to get more information?
• For help 24/7- go to
www.chelmsfordrecycles.org or
www.townofchelmsford.us/RecyclingDepartment.cfm.
• Call the Office of Recycling and Solid Waste at
978-250-5203 (hours generally M-Th, 9-1, Fri 912). Call anytime and leave a message - we
return calls within 24 hours, Mon. through Fri.
• Email [email protected].
• Consult your red, white and blue “Chelmsford
Recycles” flyer – it is still valid EXCEPT on the
question of pizza boxes and hardcover books.