To Bag or Not to Bag…That is The Question-EDS WASTE

Did you know that an aluminum can placed in your curb side cart this week will be back on a store shelf within 90 days? That is, unless the can gets thrown out instead of recycled. We know you would never intentionally put a valuable aluminum can in the trash, but, not everyone knows that sometimes even cans placed inside a recycling cart with good intentions get disposed of because of how they are set out for collection. Really? It’s true. And cans aren’t the only things that may get thrown away because they aren’t handled properly—ALL of your recycling efforts could be wasted and your paper, glass, plastics and metal might be trashed because of one simple thing...

...Plastic bags. Those great little devices for holding just about anything are not meant for the collection and processing of recyclables. Unlike your household garbage which is simply bagged, gathered and buried, your recyclables get sorted, processed and made into great new products. That first step, the sorting and separating of your recyclable materials can’t happen if everything is bundled together and placed in a bag.

Materials need to be loose so they can be dumped onto a conveyor line for sorting. Your recyclables are joined by items from thousands of other households from the Denver area. The staff and the equipment at the materials recovery facility sort and process over 2,000,000 pounds of recyclables every day!
If you have more recyclables than will fit in your recycling bin, have you thought about upsizing to a cart? Carts, with lids not only hold more, but reduce the likelihood of having your materials blow out of the container on a windy day. You may also use any type of container with a lid as long as it has recycling labels on it. Please, just don't bag your recyclables.

Thanks for all you do to make recycling a success! But not everyone knows that they shouldn’t bag their recyclables. You can help us out by sharing this Post. If you’d ever like to know more about how recycling works, drop us a line at or post a question on our Facebook page at [url=http://facebook/edswaste" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;]http://facebook/edswaste[/url].

Happy Recycling!

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