What Not to Recycle and What to Compost

I like to think of myself as a fairly recycling-savvy and compost-savvy person. As it turns out, I learned some things from an article posted by www.SaveSFBay.org. Here is a sampling of the full article by Allison Chan:

"One thing you can do to ensure that your city’s recycling program is as effective and efficient as possible is to keep unrecyclable products – potential contaminants – out of your recycling bin.  Many products that are commonly thought of as recyclable actually are not, and putting them in your blue bin increases the chances that they will contaminate glass and other recyclable materials at the facility.

Here is a list of non-recyclable products commonly placed in recycling bins:

• Compostable plastics (usually marked “compostable” or “biodegradable”)


• Waxed cardboard and paper (milk cartons, pizza boxes, juice boxes, paper cups/plates, and many to-go boxes)


• Soiled cardboard and paper (coffee filters, greasy pizza boxes, paper cups/plates)

The good news is that many of the products above are compostable.  Be sure to ask your city if you have a composting program and if it accepts items other than yard waste."

I have a pizza box sitting in my fridge - it's full of pizza at the moment - but when I go to throw it away, I now know with confidence to toss it in the big green compost bin, which for me is a nice little bit of clarification that clears up my head-space for much more important things like, "Should I order my next pizza with extra pepperoni?"

- Jocelyn Broyles
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