Summit County curbside recycling is transported to Waste Management, a large Materials Recovery Facility in Salt Lake City. Recycle Utah staff and volunteers were able to take a tour of Waste Management and ask a few of our burning recycling questions.
As always, curbside recycling guidelines vary from county to county and are subject to change. Please check local recycling guidelines for the most up-to-date information.
Can I put my recycling in a trash bag?
No. The best way to ensure your materials are recycled is to place them loosely in the bin. If recyclables are bagged, they are assumed to be trash when they reach the facility. If you line your indoor recycling bin with a trash bag, please dump recyclables straight into the curbside bin without the plastic liner.
Do my materials have to be washed prior to recycling?
Plastics in your curbside recycling need to be free of any major food or liquid residue prior to going in your recycling bin. However, they do not need to be 100% clean before recycling. Sorted materials are cleaned as part of the recycling process. Just make sure that your materials are empty; most materials are sorted at the facility using optical (AI) sorters, so as long as the material has a similar weight to what it would weigh empty, it will be identified as the correct material. For example, just scoop out all the peanut butter or yogurt from the container, or pour out liquids from bottles before putting them in the bin.
Does curbside recycling actually get recycled?
Yes! Waste Management can recycle over 90% of materials that arrive at its facility. Recycling is about saying yes, not no. As technologies advance and sorting becomes increasingly automated, more and more materials can be recycled curbside. Materials sorted at the facility are connected to their end source recycler, primarily domestically, where they are processed back into packaging and other recycled products.
For more information about curbside recycling, please visit wm.com/recycle-right. For a full tour of Waste Management, filmed by Recycle Utah, check out @RecycleUtah on YouTube.
Recycle Utah, your community nonprofit drop-off recycling center, provides these weekly tips. Visit its website for more information — recycleutah.org.