Beyond Recycling: The Other “R’s” Webinar Follow-Up

Compost collected in the RethinkWaste service area is sent to either Newby Island in San Jose or Blossom Valley Organics in Vernalis. Compost volume in the RethinkWaste service area is trending up. There was a 1.7% increase in overall compost collection from 2018-2019, and residential, business, and apartments all saw increases in compost collected.

Plastics #3-7 are currently not being recycled as there is no market for recycling them. These are items like to-go containers and yogurt cups. Other than being contractually bound to collect 3-7 plastics, a market could come back so we do still collect them. The best steps would be to focus on reducing waste, cleaning the best that you can, and supporting policies that reduce the amount of non-recyclable plastics available to consumers in the first place. Cardboard milk cartons, if from the refrigerated section at the grocery store go in your recycling cart. If they are shelf-stable, they are aseptic containers and are made of mixed material, so they go in the garbage.

For those unfamiliar, Recycling Buyback refers to California’s redemption program for bottles and cans. Whenever you buy a bottle or can, you pay an extra 5 or 10 cents depending on size and what qualifies. There is currently one open buyback facility in our service area – J&D Recycling in San Mateo. Note that our Shoreway Public Recycling Center was a buyback location for many years, but last year after RePlanet closed all their locations, we saw a huge backlog of cars on Shoreway Road, making it difficult for Recology trucks and our trucks to get in and out of the facility to collect, drop off, and move off site your recycling, compost, and garbage and causing a nuisance to our neighbors on this narrow road. Therefore, we closed the Shoreway buyback center and have not found a safe way to open it back up. RethinkWaste and Recology are not required by State law to have a buyback center.

Check with NextDoor, freecycle.org, your family members or friends. If you don’t find success through those options, bring items to local donation centers.

Put shredded paper in a closed paper bag labelled “Shredded Paper,” to avoid it from flying around and becoming litter.

Combine small pieces of clean (free of food) tinfoil together so they make a larger tinfoil ball. Clean aluminum goes into your recycling cart. If foil is food-soiled, try your best to empty the crumbs or food remnants in the compost, and then ball up the foil, food side on the inside to ensure any leftover food stays inside to not soil the rest of your recycling.

No, plastic net bags for produce go into the garbage.

No, lightbulbs do not belong in the orange battery bucket. If you have an incandescent lightbulb, they can be thrown in the garbage. If you have a fluorescent lightbulb, these lights container mercury and must be brought to a local drop off location such as a hardware store where it can be disposed of properly. You can find drop off locations for fluorescent lights and LED lights at RecycleStuff.org.

Yes, spiral bound notebooks can go in the recycling cart.

As long as the plastic containers have a chasing arrows sign with the number 1-7 on it, it can go in the recycling.

Sometimes bubble wrap envelopes have a “Store Drop-off” label on it, which usually means you can bring it to a participating store that takes it back to get recycled. If it does not have that label, it goes into the garbage.

Thin, flimsy plastic refers to cling wrap, zip-top bags, or other crinkly plastics like plastic bags. These plastics DO NOT go into the recycling cart because they jam the machines at the Shoreway recycling facility. If you cannot reuse them, they go into the garbage.

Rubberbands are not recyclable but they can be reused.

About 83% of the material that comes to our recycling facility goes on to get recycled, including plastic mixed paper, cardboard, glass, and metals, leaving 17% of the remaining material going to landfill. We currently do not have a breakdown of how much of the total plastic that comes through the facility is recycled versus going to landfill.

We ask that you keep plastic and metal bottle caps attached to their bottle and put the whole item in the recycling. If bottle caps are loose in your cart, they are likely to get littered into the street when your carts are being serviced.

You can bring select electronic waste to GreenCitizen in Burlingame at no charge or hold onto it until the Shoreway Public Recycling Center is open for free disposal.

If the wood is clean, untreated wood, it can go into the compost cart as long as it is cut down to fit inside the cart so the lid can close. If the wood is treated or has paint on it, it must go in the garbage.

Waxed cardboard goes into your compost cart.

No, receipts are made up more than one material and contain BPA chemicals, so they go in the garbage.

Tissues used to wipe wet hands are soiled paper so they can go into the compost.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves and masks, along with plastic bags and film have been found in all three carts, but they belong in only the garbage cart.

Textiles of any type are not accepted in any of your three carts. You can find places to donate unwanted textiles at RecycleStuff.org.

Yes, if grocery stores are accepting plastic bags to recycle, you can bring them there to get recycled.

Start small, by switching out one single-use item with a reusable one. For example, start with saying no to straws, and once that becomes a habit, move to utensils. Try doing a waste audit to see what you throw out the most. Check your recycling bin too, as reducing items you throw into the recycling also has a very positive impact. Also try examining items around your house, and start with an item that you feel that you can reduce your use of/repair/replace with a reusable option.