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The most common recyclables are:

• Plastic items like bottles, milk jugs, tubs and containers with caps and lids attached.

• Metal items like cans made of aluminum, steel and tin.

• Paper and cardboard items like newspapers and magazines, paper mail and junk mail, food boxes and cardboard boxes.

• Glass items like bottles and jars.

After recyclables are picked up from the curb, they are taken to recycling facilities that use advanced technology to process and sort the material. The materials can then be sent to manufacturers who can use them to create new products. Learn more about how recycling works here.

Many of the items we use in our everyday lives contain recycled material. A few examples of how common household items are recycled and turned into new products include:

• Plastic materials can be turned into clothing and fabrics, outdoor goods and new plastic containers.

• Paper and cardboard can be turned into new paper and cardboard packaging, as well as building materials.

• Glass and metal can be turned into new jars, bottles and other metal products.

In general, keep the following items out of your recycling bin:

• Food and liquids

• Grease and oil (tip: pizza boxes with a little grease are still recyclable – just remove the last slice)

• Plastic shopping bags (tip: some retailers have take-back programs for these – so bring them on your next errands run!)

• Bubble wrap

• Plastic wrap

• Batteries

• Paint cans

• Needles and medical waste (Tip: Use a specialized service like WM Healthcare Solutions to properly dispose of medical waste)

• Electronics

• Cleaning chemicals

Plastic bags can tangle up in the recycling facility’s sorting machine and cause them to break. Be sure to put your recyclables into the bin loose to avoid damaging machines.

Flattening boxes before recycling them is great because it helps save space in the bins and in recycling trucks, but it is not required.

While bottles, cans and containers should be mostly clean, dry and free of food waste before you put them in the recycling bin, they don’t need to be spotless. The goal is to make sure they are clean enough to avoid contaminating other materials.

No, broken glass is dangerous for workers at recycling centers. Instead of recycling broken glass, throw it in the trash wrapped in newspaper.

There are specialty recycling programs for all sorts of materials that can’t be picked up as part of curbside programs, including things like electronics, plastic bags, paint cans, clothing and more. Find additional specialty recycling resources here.

Not necessarily – many communities have different guidelines on which materials are accepted for recycling. One good rule of thumb is to recycle by shape: bottles, jars, jugs and tubs are a safe bet!

Check your local recycling program’s website to see exactly what they accept. When in doubt, leave it out – it’s better to throw it away than contaminate a whole load of recycling.