Recycling Residue

Using salt instead of sugar or baking power instead of baking soda can wreak havoc on your recipes - and the same goes when you mix trash into your recycling bin.

Trash, or "residue," contaminates recyclable materials, turning the whole bin into trash. Not only can co-mingling of trash and recyclables ruin your batch, but it can also contaminate other materials if it is dumped into the truck meant only for recyclables. If it's not removed before it goes to the processing plant, the trash can damage expensive machinery used to separate recyclables.

Waste Management has taken steps to make it easy for local residents to recycle, by giving customers either one container where they can place all of their recyclable items or separate bins for different types of recyclables. It's important that we keep trash and recyclables separate so that the recyclables don't become dirtied by trash - giving us the opportunity to reuse these items in making other products.

Mixing trash in with recyclables also wastes natural resources, along with time and money. It may take up to four vehicles to correctly deliver the trash to the disposal site compared to a single truck if the trash were placed in the appropriate container. The fuel wasted on the unnecessary trips could be used in serving other customers, helping Waste Management deliver quality service at competitive prices.

Recycling customers in Carlsbad, Del Mar, Oceanside, Solana Beach and the county regions need to make sure to keep liquids, food, yard waste or other non-recyclable trash out of your recyclables, and rinse out bottles, cans and jars.

If you don't receive curbside recycling service at your residence or apartment, visit the California Department of Conservation's bottlesandcans.com to search for recycling centers near your home or workplace.