Recycling Odds and Sods

There are some recycling things that continually perplex me. Do they belong in the recycle bin or not? I've got the main ones down pat but there are always some odds and sods that I dither over. So, I decided to buckle down and figure it out!

Plastic Bottle Caps

When I return by beverage containers to the depot for the deposit money... I always wonder what do with the bottle caps. Leave them on the bottle? Take them off and then what? Garbage? I seem to recall, years ago, that we needed to take the caps. But that's old news. Today, in BC, we can leave the bottle caps on!

Tetra-pak Straws

Same with these - dispose of them, or recycle them? Answer is... recycle them but pushing them down into the container once you're done drinking out of them. Amazing! I would love to see how these all get recycled.

Glass Jar Lids

These have always perplexed me. Again, I seem to recall that they were not recyclable, but that was years ago. I look at them, and I can see that they are a "mixed material" - some metal, some rubber bits. How is that recyclable? Turns out the rubber/plastic bits just get burnt off when the metal is melted down. I hope they have a scrubber that doesn't spew those fumes out into the atmosphere. So... short answer is... yes, you can recycle glass jar lids, at least here in BC, but tossing them into the blue bin.

Glass Mason/Canning Jars

A jar is a jar is a jar, right? Wrong. Apparently canning jars are different from regular jars (pickle, jam, etc). Commercial jars used for packaging are made from a different type of glass than mason or canning jars. So if you have a canning jar with a crack or a nick, and you want to recycle it, you are out of luck. Adding it to the glass recycling stream can contaminate it. A damaged mason jar can just be tossed into the garbage. Unless they are still usable in which case you can take them to thrift stores.

Plastic Cutlery & Other Oddities

In BC, we can now recycle plastic cutlery! I always thought they were too small for the conveyor belt systems, but I guess they've upgraded that. This also includes empty dental floss containers, empty plastic tape dispensers, the pump/spray thingie from spray bottles or pump-action lotion/shampoo bottles.

Aerosol Spray Cans

Spray paint cans (at least in BC) go to the paint section of the depot. But other spray cans (bug dope, hair spray, oven cleaner, etc) can all go in the blue bin AS LONG as they are completely empty. Metal is one of the most valuable materials to recycle so any bit of metal is probably recyclable.

I've said for a few years now that you practically need a PhD to figure out what can be recycled and what goes in the garbage. There are sooooo many things that can be recycled now. The Recycling Council of BC has a Recyclopedia site where you can start typing in the item (e.g. plastic... or glass...) and it will then suggest a list of plastic or glass items. Choose your item, enter your location and it will tell you where you can recycle it.