Over the past year, two audits have found that approximately 22% of the material placed in recycling carts is actually contamination—items that do not belong in curbside recycling.
The most common contaminant was recyclables placed inside of paper bags or plastic bags. Bagged recycling creates two problems. Materials inside bags cannot be sorted properly because they remain trapped in the bag, and bagged materials can create safety hazards for workers at recycling facilities. Therefore, recyclables must be placed loose in the recycling cart. Other common contaminants included plastic bags and film, food and liquids, paper towels and napkins, Styrofoam, and beverage cartons. There were also numerous household items found in the audits including shoes (put these in textile collection bins), plastic hangers (trash), a vinyl banner (trash), and plastic toys (trash if they can’t be reused).
To reduce contamination, Newton has been running a community-wide education campaign this summer along with curbside recycling cart inspections. This initiative builds on a similar effort in 2018 that was successful at significantly reducing contamination, which helped control recycling costs.
If unacceptable items are found in a recycling cart, residents may receive educational information explaining how to recycle correctly. If contamination issues continue, the recycling cart may be rejected. While leaving a cart behind is never our preferred outcome, this practice is an effective way to encourage proper recycling and reduce contamination for the benefit of the entire community.
It’s important for residents to resist “wishcycling,” which is the habit of putting items in the recycling and hoping (not knowing) they are accepted items. To combat the urge to wishcycle, please remember the phrase “when in doubt, throw it out!” If you’re not 100% confident that an item can be recycled, don’t err on the side of putting it in the recycling. Instead, put it in your trash or take the time to look up the right answer using Newton’s Recycle Right tool. Recycle Right Newton is available on our website or you can download the app from Google Play or the App Store for your phone or tablet.
To help make waste management easier for residents, we have developed additional tools such as recycling flyers that you can post by your recycling bin. We encourage you and your household to take advantage of these resources and let us know what you think.
We recognize that if you’re reading this, you’re likely more tuned in to how to recycle right than most folks. If you’re confident you’re an A+ recycler already, you can help to improve Newton’s recycling by spreading the word to friends and neighbors about where to find accurate recycling information.
We’ll share another update in the Fall to let you know how much progress Newton has made to reduce contamination. If you would like more details about this effort and all we do in Newton’s SMM Division, please visit us at www.newtonma.gov/recycling and on social media (Facebook and Instagram). And finally, thank you for recycling in Newton. It does make a difference.