Debra Lynn Dadd

recycling peanut butter jars

QUESTION:

This has nagged me for years. Maybe you can provide me with an answer. When recycling peanut butter jars is it better to rinse them (wasting lots of hot water) to clean them for recycling or just toss them into the recylcing bin and let the recyclers handle it?

As an addendum to the above, if you are unsure about whether something is recyclable should you give it to the recyclers and let them figure it out or just toss it?
Thanks, Mark

POSTED BY MARK :: E3 LIVING :: WWW.E3LIVING.COM :: VIRGINIA USA :: 10/25/2006 10:31 AM

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

You don't have to wash jars before you recycle them. You should empty the jars and scrape any excess from the sides, but they don't have to be completely clean. The recycling process will kill germs and eliminate small amounts of food debris left on recoverable materials.

If you are unsure what can be recycled, call your local recycling program and ask. They probably have some kind of instructions to give you as it is different in every community. We have the recycling instructions brochure at city hall, the natural food store...I see it almost every where I go here in Clearwater, Florida, so find yours.

If you are still not sure and it's something you discard often (like a yogurt container), it's better to take the time to find out and be sure, rather than simply toss something that could be recycled just because you don't know.

Debra :-)

COMMENTS:

Simply wipe clean the container with some flour. You can use the flour to make cookies.

POSTED BY PARLE :: ONTARIO CANADA :: 11/02/2006 11:12 AM

I've heard, but don't know if this is true, that if you put things into recycling that they don't accept that it "contaminates" the whole load of recycling and therefore they throw the whole load away. It never made sense to me, but I've been wondering about this for a while.

COMMENT FROM DEBRA: My understanding about that statement is that it is referring to if you put things in that are not that type of recyclable material, like if you put an aseptic box in with plastic milk jugs. It does not refer to food left on the containers, which gets washed away in the recycling process.

This makes sense if you look at it. We are being asked to separate our recyclables to make it easier to recycle in the recycling plant. If there is a batch with a lot of "wrong" materials, it is easier for them just to throw it away than to invest in labor to sort it out.

POSTED BY KAT :: ARIZONA USA :: 11/05/2006 7:48 AM

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