Dear Recycle Lady

Dear Recycle Lady, I’m told you accept only #1 plastic bottles, but that you accept any #2 plastics. Is this correct? Confused Recycler Dear Confused Recycler, Your information is partially correct. It’s true that we accept #1 plastic bottles, such as water and soda bottles, but we also accept #1...

Dear Recycle Lady, I’m new to the area and need clarification on how to separate items for recycling. Are cereal and other uncoated boxes considered paper or cardboard or neither? Can aluminum foil be included with tin and aluminum cans? Thank you for your help. Need Information Dear Need Information,...

Dear Recycle Lady, Previously, you said that white prescription bottles could not be recycled even though they have a recycle symbol on the bottom of the bottles. What about vitamin bottles or aspirin bottles? Are they recyclable? Healthy Recycler Dear Healthy Recycler, The Recycling Center does not accept any of...

Dear Recycle Lady, Why must labels be removed from aluminum cat food cans, but not steel cans? Like My Cats Dear Like My Cats, The reason labels are removed from aluminum cans and not steel cans is that aluminum cans and steel cans are recycled differently. Steel cans are processed...

Dear Recycle Lady, I was given a box of delicious candy for my birthday and all the small pieces of candy were wrapped in aluminum foil. Are small pieces of foil recyclable? Do they cause problems for the equipment? Candy Wrapper Dear Candy Wrapper, Good question. Locally we are not...

Dear Recycle Lady, Several nonprofit organizations are sending coins glued to their letters requesting donations. After removing the coins there are globs of glue left on the letter. Must this glue be removed before recycling the letter? Recycler Dear Recycler, Yes, the glue dots that hold the coins on the...

Dear Recycle Lady, When cleaning out my garage I found several rusty steel cans. Are they still recyclable? Cleaner Garage Dear Cleaner Garage, Yes, rusted cans can be recycled. In fact, that is the best thing to do with rusted metal. When rusty cans are thrown in the trash, they...

Dear Recycle Lady, What are nurdles? They must have something to do with plastics. Confused Dear Confused, Nurdles are totally plastic. They are the very tiny plastic pellets that are the building blocks for manufacturing plastic products. Nurdles are a microplastic as they are between 2 and 5mm in size....

Dear Recycle Lady, Haven’t I read in the past that all bubble wrap products are recyclable? The larger air pillows have recycling symbols on them, but the sheets or rolls of smaller honey-comb bubbles do not. I see that your Greenbrier Recycling Center Guidelines say that bubble wrap products aren’t...

Dear Recycle Lady, On your Bad News for the Environment note last week you said that an Oceana report estimates that Amazon’s plastic packaging waste in 2021 totaled 354,500 tons. Currently, there is an ongoing petition on Change.org asking Amazon to offer a plastic-free packaging request when orders are placed....