Recycling

Solving the mystery of the recycling bin

Why Recycle?

By recycling, we can actively help with the process of collecting, sorting, cleaning and processing materials in order to make new products.  Whatever we can't reuse we can help send on to be re-made into something else, instead of taking up more space in the landfills. Would you rather that something become a potential hazard/pollutant, or a valuable resource through the 3 R's?

"DO'S" and "DONT'S" of the Recycling Bin


MIXED PAPER

 
ü
Recycle flyers, notices, catalogues, cereal and paper boxes, glossy paper, magazines, junk mail, office papers, paper egg cartons, pizza boxes, phone books and anything else that is made of 100% paper fibre.
 
ü
Remember to collapse all boxes to take up less space and less work.
 
û
 
Don't place food containers (other than pizza boxes) in the recycling bin. They're considered contaminated because of the residual food waste in them.
 
 

NEWSPRINT

 
ü
Recycle newspapers and non-glossy inserts.
 
 

CORRUGATED CARDBOARD

 
ü
Discard these in designated bins if you live in an apartment or condo complex.
 
ü
Leave flattened cardboard boxes at curbside (tied in a bundle no bigger than 3'x2'x4') if you live in a detached house.
 
û
 
Don’t dispose of corrugated cardboard in your regular trash, as in most areas this is usually banned from disposal.
 
 

PLASTICS

 
ü
Check the bottoms of plastic containers for the recycling category number. Depending on the municipality, some plastics can be placed in the blue boxes and others must be taken directly to a recycling depot or private recycler. All municipalities take Types 1 and 2 but check with your city hall for more information about your community.
 
ü
Rinse and squash plastic jugs to consequently make more room in the collection truck.
 
û
 
Don’t put takeout food containers in the recycling bin. They're considered contaminated because of the residual food waste in them.
 
û
 
Don’t include bottles with code 3, 6, 7 or other plastics
 
 

CANS

 
ü
Remove paper labels from metal cans. If not, the labels will catch fire in the metal melting process causing contamination.
 
û
 
Don’t pull the tabs off of pop cans! It is a myth that the tab is the 'valuable' part. Please recycle the whole can, tab and all.
 
û
 
Don’t include aerosol cans (but never buy them anyway)
 
 

GLASS BOTTLES AND JARS

 
ü
Rinse these out and place them loose in your blue box.
 
û
 
Don’t put broken glass in the blue box. Broken glass is hazardous to handle and difficult to identify.
 
û
 
Do not put ceramic materials in the blue box. Ceramics contaminate plastic.
 
û
 
Don’t bother removing labels from glass containers.
 
û
 
Don’t include window glass or drinking glasses and light bulbs.
 
û
 
Don’t include flower pots.
 
 

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

 
ü
Recycle your fridge - have a professional capture the harmful CFC gases; metal recyclers usually accept the fridges for the metal value.
 
ü
Complete the recycling loop - look for items with recycled content and/or the EcoLogo*
 
û
Don’t include motor oil containers.
 
û
 
Don’t include animal byproducts or cooking oil (these can usually be recycled through a free local pick-up service). Including non-recyclable items causes "contamination" of the blue box items and raises the cost of recycling.

MIXED PAPER

 
ü
Recycle flyers, notices, catalogues, cereal and paper boxes, glossy paper, magazines, junk mail, office papers, paper egg cartons, pizza boxes, phone books and anything else that is made of 100% paper fibre.
 
ü
Remember to collapse all boxes to take up less space and less work.
 
û
 
Don't place food containers (other than pizza boxes) in the recycling bin. They're considered contaminated because of the residual food waste in them.
 
 

NEWSPRINT

 
ü
Recycle newspapers and non-glossy inserts.
 
 

CORRUGATED CARDBOARD

 
ü
Discard these in designated bins if you live in an apartment or condo complex.
 
ü
Leave flattened cardboard boxes at curbside (tied in a bundle no bigger than 3'x2'x4') if you live in a detached house.
 
û
 
Don’t dispose of corrugated cardboard in your regular trash, as in most areas this is usually banned from disposal.
 
 

PLASTICS

 
ü
Check the bottoms of plastic containers for the recycling category number. Depending on the municipality, some plastics can be placed in the blue boxes and others must be taken directly to a recycling depot or private recycler. All municipalities take Types 1 and 2 but check with your city hall for more information about your community.
 
ü
Rinse and squash plastic jugs to consequently make more room in the collection truck.
 
û
 
Don’t put takeout food containers in the recycling bin. They're considered contaminated because of the residual food waste in them.
 
û
 
Don’t include bottles with code 3, 6, 7 or other plastics
 
 

CANS

 
ü
Remove paper labels from metal cans. If not, the labels will catch fire in the metal melting process causing contamination.
 
û
 
Don’t pull the tabs off of pop cans! It is a myth that the tab is the 'valuable' part. Please recycle the whole can, tab and all.
 
û
 
Don’t include aerosol cans (but never buy them anyway)
 
 

GLASS BOTTLES AND JARS

 
ü
Rinse these out and place them loose in your blue box.
 
û
 
Don’t put broken glass in the blue box. Broken glass is hazardous to handle and difficult to identify.
 
û
 
Do not put ceramic materials in the blue box. Ceramics contaminate plastic.
 
û
 
Don’t bother removing labels from glass containers.
 
û
 
Don’t include window glass or drinking glasses and light bulbs.
 
û
 
Don’t include flower pots.
 
 

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

 
ü
Recycle your fridge - have a professional capture the harmful CFC gases; metal recyclers usually accept the fridges for the metal value.
 
ü
Complete the recycling loop - look for items with recycled content and/or the EcoLogo*
 
û
Don’t include motor oil containers.
 
û
 
Don’t include animal byproducts or cooking oil (these can usually be recycled through a free local pick-up service). Including non-recyclable items causes "contamination" of the blue box items and raises the cost of recycling.