Preparing Materials for Recycling

Most plastic items with resin codes #1 through #5 and #7 and soft plastic beverage rings can be recycled in the City's programs.

1. Plastic items should be rinsed lightly.

There are exceptions that cannot be accepted:

• lids
• pumps
• deli, meat and frozen food trays
• clam shells
• thin cups
• bags
• #7 PLA cups or containers.

We also cannot accept plastic bottles that previously contained hazardous liquids such as oil, chemicals or pesticides. If the container has the poison symbol on it, please place it in the trash.

Aseptic boxes

Commonly called drink boxes and products often include juice, milk and soup.

1. Please remove any straw and discard it before placing it in the recycling container.

Aluminum foil and trays must be completely free of food debris to be recycled.

If the aluminum foil or tray has any food residue, please dispose of them in the trash. In the melting process the foil will be destroyed before the food is burned away.

Metal food and beverage cans should be lightly rinsed.

Please place the lids of steel food cans inside the can for safety. Also if possible, please crush your beverage cans before depositing them in the recycling container.

Items such as metal oil cans or metal containers for non-food products cannot be recycled through the Raleigh's programs. (Wake County Convenience Centers and Multi-Material Drop Off Centers have scrap metal boxes for recycling other metal items.)

Corrugated cardboard is usually used to make shipping type boxes and has two flat single layers sandwiched around a wavy layer.

1. Cardboard boxes must be completely flattened, not just stepped on and squished down.
2. All packing material must be removed, including any glued on Styrofoam liners. (Styrofoam is not accepted)
3. Cardboard must also be reduced in size to pieces no larger than 3' x 3' in size. The reason for this limitation is that is the size of the opening on some recycling trucks and for residents now using carts, so that the cardboard does not become stuck in the cart.
   
4. No paper product with food contamination like Pizza boxes are accepted for recycling because they usually have food contamination!
5. If you have more than a box or two tie properly sized pieces into bundles of a manageable size.

Note: Cardboard that is not prepared according to these guidelines will not be collected.

For residents using the 18 gallon recycling bin:

• prepared cardboard can be placed in the bin, stacked on top of other materials in the bin, stacked under the bin, or stacked alongside the bin. If you have more than a couple of boxes be sure to tie the pieces in bundles.

For residents using the 95 or 65 gallon roll carts:

• all flattened cardboard must fit inside the cart. Only materials inside the cart will be collected as carts are serviced by a fully automated system and the driver does not get out of the truck. If you have a lot of cardboard, and do not want to reduce it to 3' x 3' pieces, you can remove packing materials, flatten it and take it to one of the City's drop off recycling centers.

Glass food and beverage containers should be be lightly rinsed and should not be broken.

Items such as:

• plate or window glass
• light bulbs
• mirrors
• dishes
• glassware
• ceramic materials
  

cannot be recycled through Raleigh's program.

Gable top cartons commonly used as milk, juice and laundry detergent cartons should be rinsed lightly and have their caps removed and discarded.

Newspapers and all inserts, magazines, catalogs and telephone books should be removed from plastic bags or sleeves.

Recycle the plastic sleeves at your local grocery store.

Paper includes all junk mail you receive (avoid recycling any bold or neon colored paper), envelopes (including window envelopes), and copy and fax paper, printed or blank.

Paper clips should be removed from paper but staples are okay.

Please, no checkbooks, books, carbon paper, paper with adhesive backing, napkins, tissues or other paper products. And please, NO UNOPENED MAIL - it may contain items such as promotional stickers or product samples, which could make our material unacceptable for recycling.

Do you have shredded paper? Place shredded paper inside a brown paper bag (NOT PLASTIC), staple it closed and mark "shredded paper" on the bag before placing it in the recycling container. Do not put loose shredded paper in the recycling container where it can end up littering your neighborhood.

Paperboard, chipboard, SBS board and paper tubes should all be flattened to conserve space in the recycling container and on the recycling truck.

Examples of paperboard and chipboard include:

• cereal
• pasta
• toothpaste
• beer boxes

1. Remove any linings such as those containing cereal from the paperboard boxes before flattening them.
2. Tubes include those from paper towels or toliet paper but please be sure all product is removed from the tubes before placing them in the recycling container.

Note: (SBS stands for solid bleached sulfate and refers to the white layer manufacturers put on the gray or brown paperboard so they can make their product attractive to the consumer.)

Spiral paper cans (nuts, Pringles and Pillsbury are examples) need no special attention. You do not have to remove the metal ends.