In grammar, there’s a rule about i before e, except after c or … well, there are more exceptions to the rule than there are words containing an e preceded by an i.
While there are fewer things more complicated than the English language, the rules of garbage, recycling and composting have surely surpassed drawings on cave walls and entered a hieroglyphics era.
Pizza boxes go with paper, except when there’s grease. Disposable plates go in the green bin, except when they’re Styrofoam. You get the idea.
While there’s no general recycling and garbage sorting courses available yet – you’re welcome for the thousand-dollar idea – there are ways to avoid embarrassing grammatical and/or trash sorting errors.
Municipalities in Simcoe County (with the exception of Orillia and Barrie, which have their own programs, have the benefit of four bins that are collected curbside: trash, blue (containers), grey (paper) and green (organics).
There are general rules for each of the bins. The blue bin is for packaging materials, not products (the can that holds the beans, not the spoon you ate it with). The grey bin is for clean paper and cardboard waste. The green bin is for all food waste – including the napkins you use after your meal. The garbage is for everything else, including plastic wrap, the lid from your cup of yogurt, and pet waste.
Starting Oct. 1, Simcoe County is upgrading its organics program to allow pet waste in green bins. The waste has to be contained in a biodegradable bag, and can contain things like cat litter and wood shavings from small animal cages.
Wilma Bureau, the collections and contracts supervisor for the County of Simcoe solid waste division, provides tips to avoid tripping up on tricky trash.
Paper plates, napkins and disposable cutlery
So you’ve had a party. Mazel tov! Maybe you had a lot of people over and wanted to make clean up easier by using disposable plates, cutlery and napkins. You probably threw them in the wrong bin.
Paper plates, napkins and the glob of icing still stuck to the plate all go in your green organics bin. The straws and utensils go straight into the garbage and onto the landfill. They are not recyclable because of their size and shape. A fork in the plastic sorting machine is just prong.
“Size does come into play, and it varies by sorting factory,” said Bureau. “Any tiny objects are not going to fair well in recycling.”
Using post-it notes? Toss them in the organics bin, they’re too small for the paper bin, and the carbon in them helps the organics process.
If you used Styrofoam plates, those go right into the garbage as well. Next time, opt for paper and save some landfill space for those forks.
Gable-top containers
It’s a fancy way of saying milk cartons. Those containers with the peaked roof-like tops go in the containers (blue) bin, not the grey bin. They can’t be recycled as paper because of the extra coatings added.
While we’re on the subject of milk containers and your blue bin, it’s helpful to give your recyclables a rinse and make sure there’s no food left inside. The food is organic and not recyclable, and it smells bad after it sits around the recycling plant for a while.
“Food is a contaminant,” said Bureau. “It’s not good for recycling waste.”
Mixed plastics
A typical bottle for juice or pop has three different plastics: one for the lid, one for the bottle and one for the label. Best practice is to separate all three and toss the bottle and lid into the blue box, the label goes in the garbage.
Items that contain two materials are blended like a bag containing coffee that is foil on the inside and plastic on the outside or the pouches for baby food and applesauce go in the garbage. Metal and plastic are recycled in different facilities. If they can’t be separated, they can’t be reused.
“The plastic people don’t want metal and the metal people don’t want plastic,” said Bureau.
Pizza boxes
Seems like an easy one - toss it in the grey box. But this is the i before e rule all over again. If a pizza box has absorbed too much grease from your stuffed-crust, extra cheese pie, it can’t be recycled as paper. If that’s the case, toss the box into your organics bin for the compost pile.
Take out coffee cups and lids
With the exception of Styrofoam cups (which go in the garbage) take-out coffee cups go in the green organics bin. The lids need to be removed and put in the blue container bin.
If there are any remaining tricky trash items, there is an online aid to direct your trash to the correct bin. Simcoe County has created Waste Wizard, a white-bearded wise guy who knows all the rules of the county’s garbage, recycling and organics program. Click here to visit the Waste Wizard website and type in any item to find out what bin it goes in.
Happy spelling and/or sorting, whichever you’re mastering today.
