Think Twice Before Recycling Those Pizza Boxes

Like a good citizen I do my best to try and recycle things that I know can/should be recycled, but I wonder how many batches of paper recycling I have ruined in my life after finding out that pizza boxes stained with grease can ruin entire batches of recycled cardboard?

According to RecycleBank.com recycling said pizza boxes is a big no-no.

Many people assume that pizza boxes are recyclable. In fact, most boxes have recycling symbols on them and are traditionally made from corrugated cardboard. They are, in and of themselves, recyclable.

However, what makes parts of them non-recyclable is the hot, tasty treat that comes inside them, specifically, the grease and cheese from pizza that soil the cardboard.

There you have it, even though most cardboard can go in the recycle bin you shouldn't toss in pizza boxes stained with food and grease. (You can read all about the recycling process and why the food can ruin the recycling process on the RecycleBank website.)

And before you say, "I just toss one in there once in awhile, it's no big deal." Get this -- irresponsible recycling habits (such as throwing soiled pizza boxes in your bin) cost upwards of $700 million dollars per year!

Contamination in the recycling business is a big problem. Some estimates put the costs of irresponsible contamination in the neighborhood of $700 million per year industry-wide. Gellenbeck estimates that for the City of Phoenix, contamination costs them around $1 million annually, because of damage to machinery, disposal costs for the non-recyclable material and wasted time, materials and efficiency.

All I have to say is...oops.

By the way, they say you can still recycle the parts of those boxes not stained with grease. Or you can compost the boxes, if you're into that sort of thing.

Thanks to Jason C.  for sharing this today.

You can follow these links for full lists of what is accepted at the Larimer County Recycling Center and through Weld County Recycling.

[RecycleBank.com]

Photo by Dan4th, Flickr.