Trash Talk

Mara DeRung

How does one be or become an responsible recycler? First, one must know what exactly can be put in their curbside recycling bins and what materials need to be recycled at specific drop sites. A few confusing examples are metal hangers, electrical cords, glass, shrink wrap, plastic grocery bags, string lights, and any recycling that is contained in a plastic bag.
Let’s start with the tanglers. What is a tangler? It is any material that could get snagged in rotating parts of a machine like a MRF (materials recovery facility). Examples of these are plastic grocery bags, metal hangers, string lights, electrical cords, and shrink wrap. Each of these materials has drop sites they can be brought to and not everything can go to the same drop site. Plastic bags and shrink wrap can be brought to grocery stores to be recycled, most have bins for it by the checkout lines. The metal hangers, string lights, and electrical cords can be brought to the Resource Recovery Center or landfill to be recycled if you are a resident of Clay County.
In Clay County, glass material of any kind cannot go in curbside recycling because the glass when broken is a hazard to the MRF and workers. So, glass must be brought to a drop site, like the Resource Recovery Center, where it will be recycled separately. That way no one gets hurt and no equipment gets damaged.
Recycling stored in plastic bags that are then put in curbside bins have a very low chance of being recycled. The reason for this is that material (in curbside bins) is going to a MRF. A MRF is a large sorting machine. These machines move at a fast rate. If the recyclable materials are within a bag, the machine cannot sort it. The bag will be thrown off the line by a MRF worker and later discarded. This means that the bag full of recyclable materials will not be recycled because it would damage the MRF.
It is important to only put accepted materials into recycling bins. Be an informed recycler by looking at signage on bins, paying attention to communication from your recycler, and asking questions. It may seem wrong but- when in doubt throw it out. If you are not sure if something is accepted by your recycler, and you cannot find out, put it in the trash.
If you have questions about recycling or solid waste disposal issues in Clay County, please call or email me, Mara DeRung, at 219 299-5016 or at Solid.Waste@claycountymn.gov.