What’s In Your Bin?
A Guide To The Mysteries Of Recycling In Denver
By Liz Rutledge
For the GPHN
Whether you’re new to Denver or not, knowing how to recycle right can be challenging because the rules keep changing. If you’re feeling confused, you’re not alone.
The good news is, with a little bit of education we can all do better. Let your recycling mantra be “when in doubt, throw it out.” I always feel guilty putting an item I know could be recycled in the landfill bin. But when you know that one contaminated load means everything in that recycling truck is headed to the landfill, you start to get it.
We’ll have plenty of hands-on demonstrations and the latest cool stuff at the Street Fair Sustainability Zone on Sept. 25. The all-day event is in the parkway at Montview and Forest, so make sure to stop by and say hi.
In the meantime, here’s a quick and dirty guide to the Purple Bin:
Keep it clean
Recyclers require 95 percent or higher cleanliness, so do a quick spatula wipe or quick rinse your recyclables prior to putting them in the bin.
Know what’s accepted and try to keep up
Every year Denver Recycles sends out new recycling guidelines and the pick-up schedule for the next year. Missed it? Then, check out the website via denvergov.org.
Denver Recycles accepts the following items:
• Aluminum: Cans* and aluminum foil (wadded up and about the size of a baseball – if it’s too small, send it to the landfill). It’s okay if it has food on it, so save water here. (*Do not crush the cans; the sorting robot can’t recognize it if you crush it.)
• Plastic:
— Bottles* (1’s and 2’s): If they are recyclable they will have the recycle symbol, which looks like this:
*You used to have to remove the lid, but now you can leave it on the bottle).
— Harder plastic bottles: (4’s-7’s) Laundry detergent bottles and cleaning product bottles
— Other plastic: yogurt cups, cottage cheese/butter/cream cheese/spread tubs (clean)
• Glass: Bottles and jars with lids removed (but the lids can’t just be tossed in – they have to be put into a steel (tin) can and pinched closed or recycled separately at a metals recycler).
• Paper:
— Office paper, junk mail, magazines, newspapers, but not coated paper. Here’s where it gets confusing again: the paper needs to be larger than a Post-It note or it needs to be put in an envelope. Stick Post-It notes to junk mail.
— Brown paper bags, flattened
— NOTE: Do not put shredded paper into the purple bin. It used to be OK to put shredded paper in a brown paper bag and staple it shut, but no longer.
• Chipboard: Cereal, cracker, snack boxes (Remove the plastic bags. Shake dry crumbs out and recycle those with other plastic bags at stores like Target); Tissue boxes (with plastic removed).
• Cardboard: Boxes flattened and cut into 2-ft. x 2-ft. squares, shipping boxes, and, yes, pizza boxes.
• Steel “tin” cans: Pet food, soup cans, etc. (NOTE: you can recycle metal lids in these – put the lids in the can and pinch the top closed with pliers)
• Milk cartons and aseptic packaging (the packaging that is used for boxed soups and broths, etc. — Rinse them, please!
Please do not try to recycle plastic bags in the purple bins. It contaminates the load and all your hard work is for nothing. Take those to Target or another store that accepts plastic grocery bags. Better yet, switch to reusable shopping bags and compostable trash bags.
Just when you think you have it figured out, the guidelines will change, so be sure to keep yourself up to date.
Liz Rutledge is a Park Hill resident. She writes a sustainable living blog since 2014 and does public speaking to educate groups, schools, and organizations on how they can reduce their waste to the landfill. Email Liz at SustainableThree@gmail.com, and check out her blog and recycling sorting video at SustainableThree.com.