How and what you recycle makes a difference in the health of the Earth.

It can relieve pressure on natural resources like trees, it can reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases, and it can extend the life of landfills, among other things. Before you throw something in the trash, recycling is well worth a second thought, especially on the 52nd annual Earth Day today, April 22.

The maze of recycling rules and practices can be bewildering (and if you’d just like to know a few simple guidelines to correct common mistakes, skip ahead to the “Dos and Don’ts” section of this story.)

But it’s also fascinating.

“For many Americans, recycling ranks ahead of some of the most confusing things in life — more confusing than building IKEA furniture, doing their taxes, playing the stock market or understanding the opposite sex,” according to a report from the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group that has lobbied for more uniform recycling laws.

Beside the common practices shared by most trash haulers and cities, there are a myriad of differences in recycling rules that depend on where you live and who’s picking up your trash. That’s particularly true when it comes to plastics.

Just because there are “recyclable” chasing arrows on a container or packaging doesn’t mean it’s going to get recycled if you put it in the bin. In fact, throwing some of those items in the same bin with legitimate recyclables can cause more work at the sorting stations, requiring more employees and increasing bills.

“The labeling misleads consumers into believing all plastics are recyclable, so there’s no pressure on the manufacturer to address the problem,” said Nick Lapis of Californians Against Waste.

For instance, since China and other countries largely stopped importing U.S. recyclables in the 2010s, plastics labeled with the recycling Nos. 3-7 often end up in the landfill.

Waste Management’s Mary Hartley, said her company removes all Nos. 3-7 plastics from the recycling stream. But that’s not the case for every hauler. Republic Services’ Debbie Killey said her company has found a market for those plastics and does recycle most of Nos. 3-7.

The state Legislature is considering an even dozen bills that would reduce plastic waste, including measures that would require manufacturers to use recycled content. Such a mandate could create more markets and recycling infrastructure. Other bills aim to eliminate the chasing arrows from items that are not being recycled, and reduce the use of unrecyclable single-use products and packaging.

As a result, the growing proliferation of single-use, unrecyclable packaging could be approaching a turning point.

“There are more and more types of packaging because it looks cool — it’s marketing,” Lapis said. “But policy makers are really starting to focus on it. We’re on the verge of moving in the other direction.”

Such changes have been a long time coming.

In 2011, the state set an ambitious goal of reducing, recycling or composting 75% of landfill-bound waste by 2020. However, from 2014 to 2019, the amount of waste recycled shrunk from 50% to 37%, according to CalRecycle, the state’s solid waste agency. The falloff was thanks to in large measure to the export market drying up,

Over that same period, the amount of landfill waste per Californian increased from just over 4 pounds a day more than 5 pounds a day. And even those statistics were far better than the country as a whole, which posted a recycling rate of just 24% in 2018, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. EPA.

‘Wish cycling’

Wouldn’t it be nice if plastics straws, paper towels, foam containers, food waste, plastic bags, clothes and take-out beverage cups were recyclable? They end up in the blue bins often, a phenomenon dubbed “wish cycling.”

“People want them to be recyclable,” Lapis said. “They really want them to be recyclable. They don’t want to be wasteful.”

But throwing those items in the recycle bin doesn’t only make more work for the sorters. Bags, garden hoses, old shirts and electrical cords can gum up sorting machinery and force them to shut down. Wet paper towels and food waste can spoil legitimate recyclables, particularly paper and cardboard, forcing them into the landfill as well.

That spoilage is also an issue at apartments and condos where there are fewer recycling bins.

By law, California haulers are required by to have a recycling program for every multi-family complex of five units or more. But often that plan is to simply take dumpster waste to a plant where recyclables are picked out of landfill-bound trash.

As a result, the recyclables are more likely to end up at the dump.

“The recovery rate is very challenging,” said Republic’s Killey. “Recyclables get soiled by food and pet waste.”

Killey said condo and apartment residents can set up their own “green teams” to collect recyclables and deliver them to the appropriate centers. But for Republic customers, she said, HOAs and apartment complex owners will see more of their waste recycled if they work with the hauler to set up bins for Republic’s recycling trucks to pick up.

“We’re doing more outreach to encourage that,” Killey said. Hartley said Waste Management is also eager to work with those customers to improve recycling.

But the biggest obstacle to high-functioning, high-rate recycling may be the single-use mentality for packaging, foodware and containers, and other products.

“It’s time to build a system that designs products and packaging to be used again,” said CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner. “As the world’s fifth largest economy, California can lead the transition to a self-sustaining, circular economy that ensures trash gets recycled and remanufactured into new products in our state.”

Dos for recycling

1. Reduce and reuse. Skip plastic storage bags, use reusable containers. Use refillable water bottles. Keep reusable tableware handy for use with takeout.
2. Clean and dry. Avoid spoiling other items in the blue bin. Bottles (including glass) should be empty with their lids on.
3. Recycle cardboard. More than 5% of landfill waste in 2019 was corrugated cardboard that could have been recycled.
4. Don’t sweat small stuff. Staples in magazines? Wine bottles with foil and corks? Tape on boxes? Recyclers would like them removed, but they’re not deal killers.
5. Recycle milk cartons. And other waxy beverage cartons. In the L.A. region, the paper is separated out and made into toilet paper.

Don’ts for recycling

1. Don’t gum up sorting machinery. No plastic bags, hoses or electrical cords. And don’t bag your recyclables.
2. Safety first. No broken or flat glass. No aerosol cans or batteries. No paint, oil or other toxic containers.
3. No clothing. Take it to the thrift store.
4. No “wish cycling.” No paper cups, paper towels, plastic packaging, polystyrene foam, pizza boxes, plastic straws or tableware, diapers.
5. No food or liquids. These spoil legitimate recyclables. Don’t put them in the yard waste bin either.

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