Recycling – What’s New?

Seattle Utilities is now allowing more stuff in our recycling bins. Here’s the scoop:

Large Plastic Items

Put plastic laundry baskets, molded plastic lawn chairs, and plastic tubs, bucket and storage containers directly into your recycling container. If they don’t fit in your cart, items less than 3’x3’x3′ can be set next to your recycling container. Items bigger than 3’x3’x3′ need to be broken down. Put small items in a sturdy box or reusable container and set it next to your recycling card.

Plastic Caps on Empty Plastic Bottles

To recycle plastic bottle caps, put the plastic cap on an EMPTY plastic bottle and drop it in the recycling container. Put loose caps (not attached to a bottle) in the garbage.

Cooking Oil

Follow these instructions to recycle used cooking oil:

1. Pour the COOLED oil into a plastic jug with a tight-fitting crew-on lid.
2. Label the jug with your name and address.
3. Set the labelled, tightly-closed jug next to your recycling container.

Used motor oil is also recyclable if prepared and set out as described above. There is a limit of 2 gallons of of oil (either type of oil) per collection day. Do not mix oils in the container.

Not new, but things I didn’t know until now

Bubble wrap: This isn’t new, but I didn’t know until now that you can recycle bubble wrap. Bundle it together in a plastic grocery bag and put it in your recycling container.

Corks: they are too dense to compost, so they go in the garbage. Corks can also be recycled through the Cork ReHarvest Program, which has drop boxes at PCC, Whole Foods Markets, and Wine World Warehouses.

Clam-shell containers: Rigid plastic clam-shell containers and poly-coated paper box containers can go in your curbside recycling cart. Recycle clean containers only. Dirty non-compostable containers and Styrofoam containers and cups go in the garbage. To reduce waste, bring your own resealable container for take-out food or left-overs. Plastic-like containers marked “Compostable” go in the garbage unless they are approved as compostable by Cedar Grove (more information). Then they can go in the food and yard waste cart.

Seattle Utilities has a handy look-up guide to what’s recyclable and what’s not here.