Your Recycling Questions, Answered

Submitted by Alison Reynolds, TMCC VP

At the March General Meeting, we were joined by special guest speaker Alyce Coffey of City of Houston Solid Waste Management. Alyce guided us in a very enlightening review of approved items for curbside recycling. Speaking for myself—I was surprised (but thankful) to learn that I had many opportunities to improve my recycling habits!

Perhaps my greatest takeaway was to not place my recyclables inside a trash bag first, but to put the individual items directly inside my green recycling can. Just toss them right in there, free and loose. Bags cause tangling during processing.

Other learnings: most caps on plastic containers (think milk cartons, cleaning supplies) cannot be recycled, so remove them before placing the item in your bin. That takeout pizza box from last night? If it’s stained with grease, it cannot be recycled. (No food contamination whatsoever.) Separate non-stained portions of the box and toss the rest.