When I recycle bottles and cans, should I rinse them free of debris?

Question

My brother-in-law and I have a disagreement over this. I always religiously rinse plastic bottles (such as ketchup bottles) and canned foods (such as chili beans) so that the recycling processor will easily be able to recycle my items. However, he argues that there's no need to do this and I am wasting water; furthermore, he states that they will re-rinse the items prior to processing so I am duplicating the effort. Who is correct? Do the majority of recyclers reject items that are dirty, due to the effort and cost of cleansing them prior to processing? I would greatly appreciate some insight into this.

Answer 1

Honestly I think it's a good idea but it's not needed. Only If there are blotches of stuff or still the liquid inside and just try 2 get that off. For soda cans and bottles I dont rinse and I think its ok. But with can foods maybe your should. I typed in an answer like urs on google and I got this. Hope it helps:

"No. Simply empty cans and jars of all food and debris then place them in the curbside container. Make sure as much of the food debris is cleaned out as possible. For example, make sure the pickles and juice are emptied from the glass jar. Peanut butter, Mayonnaise, and Margarine should all be scrapped clean from the sides of the container, but you don’t need to wash out the container. Please don’t waste valuable drinking water on recycling of glass, plastic, and metal. The recycling process will kill germs and eliminate small amounts of food debris left on recoverable materials."

Answer 2

If you dont rinse them, think of how much your recycling bin will stink in summer, think of the flies...................gross.

Answer 3

Rinse them out.  They ask you to do just that.  Most people do.

Answer 4

I always rinse out my bottles and cans prior to recycling for two reasons:

  

# 1: I do it because I think it's a considerate and a health conscience thing to do.

# 2: I don't want any ants to get inside the cans and bottles, while I am trying to transport them to the recycling center.

Now, as far as the recycling center is concerned.  I don't think quite frankly, they care one way or another.  They will be thoroughly cleaned at the plant before they are refilled with liquid for resale.  I can almost guarantee you that.

I take the cans, glass and plastic from work home to recycle.  For me, it drives me nuts when my boss does not rinse out his Snapple Ice tea plastic bottles.  So I take it upon myself to rinse them before I place them into a plastic bag and take the bag out to my car.  I'm just a neat and clean type of person, so that's just me.

I think both you and your brother-in-law have a valid point.  He's concerned about the added water useage to rinse them.  But I think the ants, cockroaches, bacteria and other bugs would tend to stay out of the items if they were rinsed.  That makes for an overall cleaner environment in itself.

Hey--thanks for recycling!  It's a good thing for the planet!

Answer 5

I always rinse them

Answer 6

It isn't exactly NECESSARY, but it is polite, and sanitary. You are saving the bottle depot alot of time((THEY clean them, usually)), and not only that, if you don't make regular trips to the bottle depot, you are stopping probability of mold and bugs from catching up with you, and making things difficult. Wasting water is one thing, keeping your house clean and bug/mold free is another.

Answer 7

Like others said, you don't need to rinse them. I only rinse for my personal sanitation purposes. If you need more proof, check out this link below from grist.org and scroll down to the bottom.

Answer 8

I believe you should at least rinse them to prevent the flies and bacteria from creeping near you.

What my Mum did was to collect rainwater or water used after washing clothes. Then she put in all the recycleables in the pail and soak them for a day. (The water used after washing clothes would be wise as they contain detergent which would provide a mild sterlising effect)

Next day, she would pour the water away and give the recycleables a general wash and dried it out for a day before taking it to the recycling centre.

I believe this is a good way to clean them without incurring extra cost for water?

Answer 9

Yes. You should always rinse them clean. I've heard that places reject dirty bottles or ones with caps. But I've also heard that they're required to recycle everything. I'd rather not take the chance of having them thrown out so I always rinse everything first.

Answer 10

i rinse stuff just so the bugs stay away.

Answer 11

They take the bottles and not only rinse them but heat them to extremely high temps and put them through all kinds of sifters and crazy things to get rid off all that extra c**p and bacteria too.  I don't think you have to rinse them very well.

Answer 12

Rinsing is necessary only to prevent or reduce ants, flies and vermin from being attracted to the recycling bins before they are picked up.