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Should you wash your recyclables?
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Should you wash your recyclables? Oddly enough, with all the challenges and and questions we all have about how to manage our Earth's resources and create sustainable practices, this question surfaces often and creates considerable confusion. Many cities recommend washing recyclables before putting them into the receptacle and some people are quite passionate about this and even feel guilty if they don't wash. Some well-meaning folks feel that they are giving back by washing. But is this the right thing to do or does it create more waste?
There are lots of misconceptions about how to clean up our environment and become more sustainable. Recycling, as straightforward as it appears on the surface, is filled with confusion.
The reality is that all recyclables undergo considerable processing, including washing, at the recycling processing center and washing them at home is a waste of water. Even if you got them squeaky clean, they will be washed anyway during the recycling process. They will be broken down, heated, and put through considerable processing before turning them into other products.
In about 46 seconds, a gallon of water comes out an average tap, more if you don't have a flow restrictor in your faucet. That is lots of water going down the drain for nothing. If you take two to three minutes to completely clean a can or bottle, that could be as much as 4 gallons of water wasted.
Here is what I recommend:
1. First, always recycle food waste. In Seattle, our yard waste bins now accept food waste. I was amazed at how much this cut down the amount of solid waste I was producing. My family now generates barely one-half a standard trash container of solid waste each week. Get a small sealable container to keep on your kitchen counter to collect all food scraps. This is where you put any leftover contents of the cans and bottles you are recycling.
2. If your recyclables are going right outside into your bin, then you are done. Don't wash anything out further. In Seattle, our recyclable bins are quite substantial with heavy lids. They will contain any smells.
3. If your recyclables are going into a bin in your garage, like ours do, then a quick rinse of bottles might be advisable. For cans and bottles with thick residue, I simply take them right outside to the large bin. I could also get better bins to keep in my garage.
4. For glass, be sure to remove any lids. In Seattle, we can put those lids right in the recycle bin as scrap metal. Check your city's rules.
5. Select certain bottles and cans to wash out and keep. Some jars are worth keeping and using in your cooking. For example, a nice large jar works great to store homemade tomato sauce. Cans of various sizes make great organizing bins in the garage or in your child's room. If you use them inside, make sure there are no sharp edges left after opening.
What happens to glass at the recycle plant? Glass is usually crushed into what is known as cullet and mixed with other raw materials. These materials include silica sand, soda ash, and limestone. Removing the lids from glass containers is important as they can damage the glass crushing machines.
Plastic is handled similarly. First the plastic containers are sorted at the recycling plant and put into "bales." Each bale weighs from 800 to 1,200 pounds and can contain over 7,000 plastic bottles. Bales of plastic are sold to reclaimers by the truckload, which contains about 40 bales. Reclaimers are the key to the recycling process. It is not your city government that decides what they can recycle, it is the reclaimers. If no reclaimers are interested in a particular piece of waste, then it cannot be collected. What is of interest to reclaimers changes from month to month, depending on the markets they sell to.
At the reclaimers, bales are torn apart by a machine called a bale breaker, which rakes the plastic onto a conveyor belt. Machines shred the plastic into tiny flakes, and then the flakes are washed, rinsed, and dried. The flakes are then melted and put through a machine called an extruder, which forms the plastic into spaghetti-like strands. These plastic strands are chopped into pellets, which are sold to various container making companies. Some wind up being reconstituted into patio decks, park benches, and even railroad ties.
Putting food waste in the compost/yard waste bin also minimizes the use of your garbage disposal, which is no friend to the environment. The food waste created by the garbage disposal is a huge burden on wastewater treatment plants. The plants have to separate out all that solid waste and then truck it to a landfill. Those trucks use fuel, create pollution, and have to be washed with water afterward.
Stopping for a moment and thinking about all the impacts on resources that result from what we do in our kitchen can make a big difference. Just visualize all the pieces to the puzzle and soon you will see all the connections and alter your own practices accordingly to minimize the resources you use. If we alter our buying habits, getting only what we need, and change some of the ways we use resources at home, together, we can make a big difference.
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See Jackie's other stories:
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