Top 10 things to remember about recycling in North St. Louis County
1. Plastic recycling is limited to #1 and #2 items, look for the number inside a triangular-shaped logo on the bottom of a container. Number 5 plastic is not currently recyclable. Styrofoam is never recyclable. Plastic dishes and toys are not recyclable.
2. Clean plastic bags, plastic shopping bags, and plastic wrapping (but not plastic bags that food is sold in because they are treated with other chemicals to help keep food fresh) aren’t recyclable through the county, but these items can be taken to receptacles at Super One, Target, and Walmart.
3. Almost all kinds of paper and magazines are recyclable, except for wrapping paper and packing with plastic or waxy coated interiors such as milk cartons or frozen food boxes. Box board (cereal boxes) get sorted in with regular paper. Corrugated cardboard, which goes in a separate bin, is recyclable. Pizza boxes, paper plates, egg cartons, and construction paper are not recyclable. Any paper with food contamination is not recyclable.
4. All metal cans are recyclable (but need to be clean inside). Aluminum foil and disposable aluminum pie pans/containers are not recyclable because they are too thin and burn up in the recycling process. Aerosol cans are not recyclable and my need to be disposed of as hazardous waste.
5. Paper and plastic labels and wrappings on containers do not need to be removed.
6. Almost all the time, plastic and metal lids on recyclables are also recyclable, but you need to leave them on the container or they will end up in regular garbage.
7. All recycled items need to be at least 95-percent clean. If they aren’t, they get removed because they could contaminate the rest of the lot.
8. Sorting out non-qualified items in the recycling process costs 48-percent of the county’s recycling budget.
9. When you put your recycling out in plastic bags, someone has to take the extra time to empty the bag and throw it away. Plastic bags can clog the facility machinery.
10. St. Louis County has the capacity to process 240-percent more recyclables than the current amount (12,000 tons instead of the current 5,000 tons per year). More recycling generates more sales and revenue for the county and reduces the size of the landfills that the county has to maintain.