Americans have focused a lot of attention on recycling the past few years. The green movement has really picked up and its helped to bring the significance of recycling to the forefront. Unfortunately not everything is able to be recycled. Its important to know what can be recycled, and what can't be. Here is some more information:

Plastic Bottles and Containers

Plastic Containers (milk, soap, juice, fresh pasta, water, etc.)

All plastic containers you purchase should be marked with a large and clear recycling code. This code must be molded into the plastic and located on the bottom surface of the container. Ideally the entire container should be made of the same plastic to avoid confusion, but often the caps are of a different type. Caps should be separately marked, but few are. Note that most caps are NOT of the same type as the bottle they sit on.

Grocery sacks, produce bags, and other packaging

These are great to reuse. Use them again at the store, or to dispose of dog waste in your yard.  Plastic grocery and produce sacks are often collected in barrels at grocery stores, and usually end up as plastic lumber.

Other Plastic Items

Many products, such as compact disc covers, video tapes, and computer discs, are made from mixed materials which can't be recycled unless first disassembled.

Glass, Steel, Aluminum Cans and Foil

Glass, steel (or "tin") and aluminum are easy to recognize and recycle. For clarity, a recycling symbol should be present, but most people have little trouble sorting these materials. Glass bottles must not be mixed with other types of glass such as windows, light bulbs, mirrors, glass tableware, Pyrex or auto glass. Ceramics contaminate glass and are difficult to sort out. Clear glass is the most valuable. Mixed color glass is near worthless, and broken glass is hard to sort.

There have been marketing experiments with plastic and steel cans that look exactly like aluminum cans. Recycling plants have been damaged by these fakes.

It is no longer necessary to remove labels for recycling. To save water, clean only enough to prevent odors. Unlike with plastics, the high temperature of glass and metal processing deals easily with contamination.

Scrap aluminum is accepted in many places. Other metals are rarely accepted.

Aseptic Packaging (Drink boxes, soy-milk containers)

The square boxes used for liquids are called "Aseptics", the most common brand of which is "Tetra Pak". Aseptics are made from complex layers of plastic, metal and paper. The aseptic industry has spent millions in public education on the issue of aseptic recycling, including distribution of classroom guides and posters like "Drink Boxes are as Good on the Outside as They are on the Inside" and "A Day in the Life of a Drink Box". The actual recycling process, unfortunately, is very expensive and awkward, and is therefore only available in a very few places.

Paper

Most types of paper can be recycled. Newspapers have been recycled profitably for decades, and recycling of other paper is growing. Virgin paper pulp prices have soared in recent years prompting construction of more plants capable of using waste paper. They key to recycling is collecting large quantities of clean, well-sorted, uncontaminated and dry paper.

It is important to know what you are buying in a paper product, for that reason virtually all paper products should be marked with the percentage and type of recycled content. Just saying "recycled paper" is not enough. "Recycled paper" could mean anything from 100% true recycled paper to 1% re-manufactured ends of large paper rolls. "Post-consumer" means the paper that you and I return to recycling centers. From a recycling point of view, the more "post-consumer" paper the better. Soybean-based inks are gaining favor as a renewable alternative to harsh and toxic petrochemical inks.

White Office Paper

Acceptable are clean white sheets from the likes of laser printers and copy machines. Colored, contaminated, or lower grade paper is not acceptable. The wrappers the paper comes in are of lower grade, and not acceptable. Staples are OK. White office paper may be downgraded, and recycled with mixed paper.

Corrugated Cardboard

In areas that don't take cardboard from consumers, one can often drop boxes off at a supermarket or other high volume business. Contaminated cardboard, like greasy pizza boxes, is not acceptable. In some areas cardboard must be free of tape, but staples are always OK.

Newspapers

Newspaper is widely available and of uniform consistency, which makes it valuable. The entire newspaper including inserts, is acceptable, except for things like plastic, product samples and rubber bands. Newspapers may be stuffed in large brown grocery sacks, or tied with natural-fiber twine. Other brown paper bags may be mixed with newspaper.

Phone books

Some phone books are made with a special glue that breaks down in water, while other phone books use a glue that interferes with recycling. Printed in your phone book should be information on the source and type of paper used, the nature of the binding, and where locally phone books can be recycled.

Waxed cartons (Milk, juice)

Milk cartons are plastic laminated inside, even if they don't have a plastic spout.

Mixed Paper

Mixed paper is a catch-all for types of paper not specifically mentioned above. Everything you can imagine from magazines to packaging is acceptable. The paper must still be clean, dry, and free of food, most plastic, wax, and other contamination. Staples are OK.

Remove plastic wrap, stickers, product samples, and those pointless "membership" cards, and most junk mail can be recycled as mixed paper. Due to new technology, plastic window envelopes and staples are generally OK.

Paper that can't be recycled

Paper that can't be recycled as normal "mixed paper" includes: food contaminated paper, waxed paper, waxed cardboard milk & juice containers, oil soaked paper, carbon paper, sanitary products or tissues, thermal fax paper, stickers and plastic laminated paper such as fast food wrappers, juice boxes, and pet food bags.  

Other things you can do to help:

• Favor products with a high recycled content, even if they cost a little more.
• Reduce the volume of packaging you buy, reuse what you can, and recycle the rest.
• Tell the clerk "I don't need a bag".
• Use your own reusable canvas bag or backpack at the store.
• Buy quality products and keep them for a lifetime.