Cardboard & Plastic Recycling! WTF!?!?

Question

My town says that I can't put "grey cardboard" (paper rollers, pizza boxes, cereal boxes) or "waxed cardboard" (milk cartons, etc) into the recycling. Also, I can't put any plastic items in recycling unless they say 1 or 2 on the bottom. WHY IS THIS? Can someone explaine this to me??? It makes me sad!

W.T.F.? am I supposed to do with this stuff!? I hate to just throw it in the garbage to go sit in a heap for a million years!!!!

What can I do with this stuff?????

Answer 1

while I understand "waxed cardboard" is a problem(in terms of recycling it is not reuseable), the other is cardboard(just not corrogated).    They just grind it all up and make more cardboard.  Strange.  

  They are garbage then.  Same applies to the plastics if they do not wish to take any other than 1 & 2.

   It is a matter of finding a service that will process the stuff you can't recycle right now and start up the faucility in your town.

Answer 2

They are sorting the carboard and plastic after you dump it which is why you can combine them. The place they are selling the stuff to will not accept plastic #1 or #2 which is why they are telling you this. Just find a place that will accept #1 and #2 or dont buy anything that has it referenced on the bottom.

Answer 3

Why do they do that? There are so many of us wanting to GO GREEN and than things like this happen.

The same thing happened to us. We have been recycling for years. I recycle everything milk carton, paper towel rolls, plastic milk jugs, water bottles, cans, jars, brown glass etc... I do not recycle take out pizza boxes because they are usually so gross and greasy! And everything is always picked up. I would call your local recycling center and ask them why and what they recommend  to do with your other items.

Answer 4

What town do you live in?  Do people in your town recycle a lot? Some cities are just more environmentally friendly than others and have more recycling options. And big cities, because of the shear volumes of waste, are able to recycle almost everything, like grey cardboard, waxed corrugated cardboard, kitchen waste, and different plastics.

If your townspeople show the town and the recyclers that you will make it worth their while by constantly providing them with these types of recyclables, then maybe they'll start taking them.  I should be worth their while, too! Inquire!!!!!!

Maybe you can get a movement started. After all, it sounds like they are already accepting cardboard and some plastics.

It sucks to have to throw it all out, doesn't it?

Keep recycling and keep inquiring.

Answer 5

Hide it in the middle of your recyclables hehehe ;)

Answer 6

Just a suggestion: Go to a town meeting, contact your local government, they are suppose to be representing you and your entire community - so they need to listen to what you have to say.  Make a suggestion to contact nearby cities that do more types of recycling to help your town get on track.  Contact the leaders of Waste management in your community and do the same.  Call a local radio or tv station and suggest such a story.  Once things get into the media, then most political people start to take notice and act like they are on the 'green' bandwagon.