You wouldn’t make lasagna in your recycling bin, or would you? If you combine paper with containers in the same bin, it’s called recycling lasagna and that’s a recipe for recycling failure.
There will be a bright pink “oops” sticker on your Blue Box if you put a serving of Blue Box lasagna at the curb. This sticker message from the City of Hamilton Waste Management lets homeowners know that there was a problem with their sorting. Flo Busnello, the city’s Recycling Queen, helps educate Hamiltonians about proper sorting practices.
To avoid getting “stickered” recyclable paper must be separate from recyclable containers. It may look as though the two are mixed when dumped into the recycling truck but there are actually two separate sections. The sorting that you do before taking Blue Boxes to the curb is continued on the truck.
The truck’s destination is a recycling facility where the two streams are divided even further. Each truck collects recyclables from about 800 homes each day. One of the factors that affect the price received for recyclables is the quality of the product. A load that contains plastic water bottles for example, will fetch a higher price if those bottles don’t have their lids attached. The lids are not recyclable and should be tossed into the trash before the bottle goes into the Blue Box. When non-recyclables and recyclables are mixed, the load is contaminated and devalued.
If stickers were given for perfect recycling, those Blue Boxes would be filled with containers that have been rinsed so the food residue does not begin to smell. Hard plastic lids would be removed. They would be in a separate container from paper.
For more tips about recycling go to the City of Hamilton’s Waste Management website at www.hamilton.ca/waste.
