Recycle Right!
Our Waste Zero Teams perform regular audits of incoming recyclable material at our McMinnville and Astoria Transfer Stations. We’ve compiled a list of the five most common contaminants. Questions about what goes where? Visit WhatBin.com!
Top 5 Recycling Contaminants:
Plastic Wrap – Plastic that doesn’t hold its shape (frozen food packaging, chip bags, and wrapping around toilet paper) cannot be recycled. Place these items in the garbage. Pizza Boxes & Waxed Cardboard – Grease and wax are not good candidates for paper recycling. Place these items in the garbage.
Frozen Food Boxes – Paperboard boxes that were designed for freezer foods, such as frozen pizza and entrées, have a plastic polymer sprayed on them to protect against freezer burn. That same coating prevents the box from breaking down in the recycling process. These materials are not recyclable OR compostable.
Bagged Recycling – Keep your recycling loose in your cart. Bagged recycling cannot be processed at our recycling facility for safety reasons and is often sent directly to the landfill.
Plastic Bags – At our recycling facility, loose plastic bags become tangled in machinery and cannot be effectively sorted for recycling. Ask your grocery store if they offer a take-back program, visit PlasticFilmRecycling.org to research other drop-off locations, or place in the garbage.