Some of the typical rules for recycling are given below. Your community’s rules may differ. However, regardless of the rules, they should be followed carefully to avoid contaminating the collections. A collection that is contaminated cannot be recycled and will have to be tossed into the regular trash dump.

Newspapers

• Keep newspaper separate from other recyclable material.
• Wet newspaper can’t be recycled. Either cover newspapers on rainy days or until the next recycling day.
• Always remove newspaper from plastic delivery bags before recycling. The bags can be saved and recycled at your grocery store or as part of the plastics recycling collection.

Junk Mail and Mixed Paper

• Some recycling programs handle mixed paper. If your program does, junk mail and mixed paper can be put into the recycling bins for collection.
• If your program does not handle mixed paper, don’t include junk mail, cereal boxes, magazines, catalogs and other paper in with your recycIables. However, you may be able to collect them and drop them off elsewhere. Call your city for drop-off locations.

Plastics

• Recycle plastics that have the numbers 1, 2 or 3 surrounded by the recycling arrow symbol on the bottom of the containers or that are labeled “this product can be recycled”. Exception: Containers for hazardous chemicals such as oil, paint, cleaning products and medical waste containers should not be placed in recycling bins. Follow community guidelines for disposing of them correctly.
• Flatten plastic containers. Step on them before placing them in the recycling bin. They take less space.
• You can reuse plastic bags or recycle them. Plastic bags are collected at many grocery stores. They are easy to collect and drop off when you go shopping.

Glass

• Recycle clear, brown and green glass bottles. Don’t include broken glass, light bulbs, mirrors or ceramics.
• Before placing containers in your recycling bin, remove all caps, lids and labels, and rinse containers free of any residue.

Don’t Wrap Your Garbage when recycling. Recyclables that are bagged cannot be sorted for recycling. Keep recyclables loose.