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Community Sustainability Council Meeting
08/10/2026 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
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09/14/2026 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
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Fall Recycle Rodeo
09/19/2026 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Departments » Solid Waste and Recycling » Recycle
Waste Reduction
Beyond Recycling
Ever Wonder Wednesday
Disposable straws, plates, cups, cutlery--all of these items and countless more are single-use. As a global society, we use more single-use items today than EVER before. This is because they're cheap, convenient, and available virtually everywhere. But where in the word did this disposable culture come from?!
Believe it or not, when plastic was first widely used, it was praised as a savior of wildlife. The first synthetic plastic was created in response to a growing demand for billiard balls--which were made from elephant tusks (ivory). Plastic also filled a need previously filled by animal horns and tortoise shells. #SaveTheElephants #SaveTheTurtles
In this fascinating history of plastic, the author writes that “plastics could protect the natural world from the destructive forces of human need.” Yet today, we see the detrimental effects plastic has on the environment because it doesn’t safely biodegrade. This hurts both aquatic and terrestrial wildlife. One widely-known culprit is the plastic straw.
Plastic straws are a common single-use item. They are given (requested or not) at virtually all restaurants. Straws themselves have been around for centuries, commonly made from rye stalks. Paper straws were first widely used in the 1900s--when polio was rampant--to prevent transmission of the disease.
Around the 1960s, straws transitioned from paper to plastic. Plastic straws are particularly problematic because they are so lightweight that they travel easily through wind and water. You may think to yourself “we are so far away from the ocean, our litter only affects our local environment.” Greensboro is uniquely positioned at the headwaters of the Cape Fear River Basin. That means that EVERYTHING we do here flows downstream to Wilmington, the Atlantic Ocean, and beyond. Every straw used has the potential to become litter, so consider asking wait staff for your beverage with “no straw please.”
One question I frequently get is “why can’t we just recycle these single-use items? They are plastic!” Single-use plastics, like straws and cutlery, cannot be recycled for two reasons: quality of plastic and ease of separation.
- The quality of the plastic is too low to justify recovering these items. Think about the flimsiness of a plastic spoon or straw compared to a sturdy laundry detergent bottle. The type of plastic is very cheap and therefore difficult to reprocess into something new.
- During the sorting process, small items such as straws and cutlery fall though screens and end up being taken to the landfill.
Plastic was created with the best of intentions--but the irony is obvious: plastic was created to protect animals, and it is now hurting more animals than ever! To help, take steps to reduce your use of single-use plastics. For the single-use plastics you do use, ensure that they up where they belong--the landfill. Also, check out the attached images for artistic representations of what single-use plastics mean for our world and our oceans.
If you have any additional questions about waste reduction, please do not hesitate to private message or e-mail me at recycle@greensboro-nc.gov.
Recycle Away,
Tori
PS--E-mail me if you would like to share any of my Ever Wonder Wednesday posts in a community or HOA newsletter. I will be happy to share content and images with you.
Plastic is virtually unavoidable in today’s society. Despite its environmental unpopularity, plastic remains one of the number one products found in our everyday lives. Beverages, laundry detergent, shampoo, ketchup, cleaning products, and even reusable beverage containers can all be made from plastic.So… if plastic is unavoidable (without deliberate effort), why make the effort to recycle it? Because it keeps it out of the landfill and it creates jobs. Check out this cool video: https://youtu.be/WxgG3-0jpAI
In the Carolina's, 3,500 people depend on you recycling your plastic bottles and jugs to go to work every day. Yet over 70% of all plastic bottles are thrown away. It’s vital that more plastic bottles be recycled. Companies right here in the Carolina's who make new products from plastic bottles CAN’T find enough recycled plastic to run their plants efficiently.
A wide variety of objects can be made from recycled plastics.
- When laundry detergent, shampoo, and milk containers are recycled, they can make new bottles and containers, plastic lumber, picnic tables, lawn furniture, playground equipment, recycling bins and more.
When plastic water, ketchup, mayo, and hand soap bottles are recycled, they can be made into t-shirts, sweaters, fleece jackets, insulation for jackets and sleeping bags, carpeting and more bottles. It takes about 10 bottles to create enough plastic fiber to make a cool new t-shirt, 63 bottles to make a sweater, 14 bottles to create enough insulation (fiberfill) for a ski jacket, and 114 bottles to make enough insulation (fiberfill) for a sleeping bag!
- Even though they’re made with a different type of plastic than the bottles, the caps should be put back on bottles before you toss them in recycling bins. What can they become? Plastic bottle caps can be recycled into batteries for your car, garden rakes, storage containers, reusable shopping bags, yarn, ropes, brooms… and more bottle caps.
How can you do your part?
Rinse. Recap. Recycle.
Look around your home (and not JUST in your kitchen), in your car, at your office, and everywhere you go for plastic bottle and jugs to recycle. Make it your mission to ALWAYS recycle bottles and jugs that you personally use, and encourage family and friends to do the same. The simple act of recycling plastic bottles creates well-paying jobs, and companies that have a good supply of recycled bottles will continue to invest and expand their businesses in North and South Carolina.
You can also help by telling others. Share the information in these posts via social media, e-mail, and personal conversations. Every voice helps spread the importance of recycling and it's positive impact on not only our environment, but our economy. And since money talks, try to buy items with recycled products in them as often as possible. You’re helping your neighbors! #YourBottleMeansJobs
Have you ever wondered what happens to glass when it's recycled at our Glass Recycling Drop-off sites?
Sure, most of us know that recycled bottles and jars are turned into new glass bottles and jars...but did you know you won’t ever purchase a glass bottle or jar made from 100% recycled glass? Even more interestingly, not all glass bottles and jars will be turned into new glass bottles and jars.
Primarily, recycled glass is crushed into cullet. To make new glass, manufacturers will use up to 95% cullet and at least 5% virgin material. Cullet is useful because it lowers the melting point required to make glass. However, virgin material is necessary to ensure high quality glass that is not stronger in some places and weaker in others. Cullet can be used to create new glass bottles and jars, but it also can be used for something less common: sandblasting.
Glass is made from three ingredients: sand, limestone, and soda ash.
All three of these ingredients are found in the United States, and the largest soda ash mineral deposit is here in the US. Sand has historically been used for more than making glass. It was also the key material used in sandblasting. Sandblasting with sand releases free silica, which when inhaled, causes a deadly lung disease called silicosis. When sand is heated, however, the free silica is neutralized, making refined cullet the perfect replacement for sand in sandblasting. Glass was integral in helping OSHA resolve this public health issue.
It is important to mention that not all glass is created equal. Tempered glass--found in car windows, glass candles, and glass cookware--has a higher melting point than regular glass, meaning it cannot be recycled with glass bottles and jars. The options for disposing this type of glass are limited to creative reuse centers (that may use the glass pieces for projects) and the landfill.
Another cool fact about glass is that it is infinitely recyclable. The glass jar you hold today could be made from parts of glass bottles that were used years ago and recycled. It is important for us to protect natural resources mined both domestically and abroad. So important, that there is one state in the US that has a law requiring ABC permit holders to have separate glass recycling for their business.
You may be thinking California, Oregon, or New York… but North Carolina is that state! Several years ago, North Carolinians felt it was extremely important to ensure recycled glass processors that call NC home have feedstock for their operations. Coincidently, the Craft Brewing industry has also flourished in the past couple years. So every time you partake in an adult beverage at a Greensboro restaurant or bar, you are helping create jobs right here in the NC glass recycling industry!
Each year, as we begin to come out of hibernation from winter, local garden and hardware stores get busier and busier with shoppers looking to improve their gardens, lawns, and landscapes. Personally, I have big plans for a little plot in my back yard that involves tomatoes, green beans, squash, pumpkins, and more! Yum.
We have set up a compost bin in our backyard made from reused pallets, and garden fabric (my husband's design, pictured here). For the past year, we have been slowly adding our fruit and veggie food scraps, and some of our lawn trimmings. As this waste breaks down, it creates an extremely nutrient dense, loamy material with beneficial microorganisms that bring life to your soil. Your food scraps are recycled into something that will make your plants stand up and cheer!
Compost isn't called "gardener's gold" for no reason… head to the store and you'll pay a pretty penny to feed your plants. Consider creating your own gardener's gold for next year's garden. It's really easy, compost is very forgiving if you do mess up, and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t smell or attract unwanted critters. I'm pretty sure my pets have no idea that the compost bin contains former food scraps.
If you are interested in learning more about creating your own backyard compost, check out our "Beginner's Guide to Backyard Composting". Are you interested in taking a backyard composting class? Let us know if you’re interested with a comment below, and we will be sure to update Nextdoor (and Facebook) if a class is scheduled in the future.
If you don't have time to create your own backyard compost for this year's garden, never fear! At the White Street Landfill complex, all of the yard waste collected by City crews is composted using large scale industrial equipment throughout the year. If you would like to purchase compost or mulch, it only costs $20 per truckload or ton, and leaf mulch is free. For details about compost and mulch at White Street, please visit our compost and mulch webpage.
Please do not mix food waste in with your yard waste collection. Currently, there are no plans to begin a curbside pick-up program for food waste in Greensboro.
We all appreciate the convenience and variety that single-use coffee pods like K-cups bring. But what happens after you enjoy that cup of piping-hot deliciousness? Can it be recycled or does it need to be landfilled?
The quick answer is to landfill the k-cup and other single-use coffee pods. The first reason is that they are too small to be sorted by the machines at the recycling center. The second reason is that they consist of three different types of materials: plastic, paper, and organic material (coffee/tea grounds). So even if the k-cup was large enough to be sorted by our machines, they still couldn’t be recycled.
The best option would be to avoid single-use coffee pods. That doesn’t mean you have to give up on a perfectly portioned single cup of coffee! There are reusable single-serve coffee pod options. They are refillable at home with any coffee/tea grounds that you like. Once you’ve used it, you can compost the used coffee/tea grounds, wash your pod, and reuse it over and over again!
If you’re absolutely hooked on the single-use coffee pods, there is a tool you can purchase to separate out the three different materials (a quick google search should yield results). The coffee/tea grounds and paper filter can be composted, but the plastic cups and foil lids still needs to be landfilled.
The process of separating out single-use coffee pods is a tedious one that takes away the convenience factor of a single-use coffee pod in the first place. Consider ditching the single-use pod for a reusable one, or switch back to the old-fashioned coffee pot instead!
I often get asked why Greensboro doesn't service recycling carts as often as trash carts. Yes, we used to have weekly recycling collection, but in 2008 we made the switch to Every Other Week (EOW) recycling.
This may sound counterproductive, because we want everyone to recycle all they can. The State of NC Recycling Program did a study and found that each household generates about 850 pounds of recyclables each year. However, only about half of that amount is being recycled properly. The other half of the potential recyclables from most homes is being landfilled.
Before switching to EOW recycling, about 30% of homes in Greensboro were putting out their recycling cans each collection day. That meant we were driving by 7 out of 10 homes every single week without stopping to pick up their recycling. We were also picking up 29,600 tons each year. That translates to about 569 tons a week. It cost us about $3.9 million to collect recycling in ‘06-‘07.
After we made the switch to EOW recycling, our participation rate doubled to 60% of homes setting their recycling carts out each collection day. In ’07-’08 when we switched, we picked up 29,700 tons--about 570 tons a week. The number of houses recycling doubled, the average tons collected each week stayed relatively the same, and the cost of collecting recyclables dropped to $3.3 million that year.
Across the City, we are still seeing tonnage that is too low to warrant picking up recycling every week. If you want to see every week recycling, two things need to happen: more and better recycling.More Recycling:
I understand that you and your neighbors are frustrated about not having enough room in one recycling container to hold all your recycling. You have the option of requesting a second recycling container for your home if you have too much recycling to last you two weeks between pickups. You can do so through our new GSO Collects App, available on the app store (no waiting on the phone)! Or you can call 336-373-CITY (2489).Better Recycling:
Currently, about 20% of the stuff that goes to our recycling center is actually trash (aka contamination). The national contamination rate is averaging about 5-10% trash in the recycling. Please, when in doubt, throw it out, if you're not sure if something is recyclable. If you want to find out, use our Waste Wizard search engine in the GSO Collects app to search virtually any item and find out how to dispose of it properly. If something is not in the search engine, you can report it as missing and we will add it to our database! The GSO Collects Waste Wizard and reporting tools are also located on our website.Recycling correctly is just as important as increasing recycling. Trash in the recycling can be detrimental to the process because it can cause recyclable items to be too dirty to be recycled. Also, employees at the recycling center could be injured by some items in your recycling. Please make sure that you recycle better before you recycle more. Know where to throw!
Download and print the contamination poster.
It may be obvious to most of you that insecticides, herbicides, and other pesticides or garden chemicals do not belong in your recycling bin. You may even know that they don’t belong in your trash bin either. So where should they go?
Pesticides should be taken to the Household Hazardous Waste Center located at 2750 Patterson Street. These chemicals should not go to the landfill because many pesticides are flammable. If these chemicals get into the natural environment, they can pollute waterways and harm plants and animals. In fact, pesticides are created to harm plants and animals, so it's critical that we keep them out of the environment!
Putting these chemicals in your recycling poses the same fire hazard as putting them into your trash bin. If the pesticides were to leak out in the truck on the way to the recycling center, they could ruin an entire truckload (between 3-5 tons) of recyclables!
Empty pesticide containers are different. If you have empty and dry plastic containers that once held pesticides, these can go into your recycling bin. If you purchase dry pesticides that come in bags, these go into your trash bin as long as they are empty. If you are trying to discard a partially full bag of pesticides, take them to the Household Hazardous Waste Center.
Pesticides are created to harm plants and animals, and they do just that. In an effort to reduce pesticide use and reduce your waste, consider alternative methods of pest control. One common (and effective) method is crop rotation. Even if you have a small flower or vegetable garden, simply switching up what you grow every few years can reduce pest infestation, and improve your soil quality!
There are many other ways to control pests that don’t use chemicals so harmful that they require special disposal at the Household Hazardous Waste site. Be sure to do your research this gardening season to find a method that could work best for you!
Oftentimes, residents think of the kitchen when they think of recyclable items. It’s easy enough to remember that your pizza box, milk jug, and soup can should all go in your recycling container. But what about the other items in your home that are recyclable? Today we shine a light on other places you might find recycling in your home.
In the bathroom, it can be tempting to put toilet paper tubes, shampoo bottles, and the plastic wrap around toilet paper (can be recycled at the grocery store) in the trash can. Consider having a small recycling bin in your bathroom along with your trash can (twin the bin!) to make it easy to separate your tissues, make-up wipes, and cotton swab trash from the jugs and recyclable paper products in your bathroom.
Have a home office, craft room, shed, or man cave? All of those rooms may contain recyclables that don’t belong in your green garbage cart. These rooms are ideal places for a small recycling bin. Put paper, magazines, mail, and envelopes in the recycling!
Have a question about whether an item in your house is recyclable? Try using our mobile app, GSO Collects.
Recycling isn't always convenient, but it makes a big difference if we all make small simple changes to increase our recycling efforts!
Make sure to return the following items to retail locations, like grocery stores, for recycling!
Clothes hangers are typically made from three different materials or a combination of plastic, metal, and wood.
Regardless of the type of hanger, they don’t belong in your recycling bin. Metal and wood hangers can jam and damage the machines at the recycling facility, causing dangerous situations for the employees there. Plastic hangers (which are often a plastic/metal combo) can break, fall through the machinery, and end up contaminating other recyclables.
When it comes to hangers, reducing and reusing are your best options. Leave the plastic hangers at the store when you buy new clothes. Purchase sturdy, durable hangers that are unlikely to break so you can use them for a lifetime.
Another option is to sell your metal hangers to a local metal recycler if you no longer need them or they are damaged (a quick Google search will yield several local metal recyclers). Undamaged hangers can be donated to your local thrift store. Damaged non-metal hangers must, unfortunately, go to the landfill. Even damaged wood hangers must go to the landfill because they are coated in a varnish that makes them non-compostable.
Have you ever wondered what to do with your old dried out nail polish? Did you know that it shouldn’t just be tossed in the trash?
Nail polish often contains toxins that are harmful to the environment, so nail polish should be taken to the Household Hazardous Waste Center.
You can also consider creative reuse options for your old nail polish! A quick google search will show you how to revitalize dried-out or gummed up nail polish and give you plenty of uses for it other than painting your nails.
Consider taking your old nail polish to Reconsidered Goods so that others in our community can use the paint, bottles, or both for creative purposes.
There is also a mail-in recycling program for nail polish through Chemwise. They process the bottles and recycle the glass container, applicator brush, and the polish. It's not a cheap program, but if you gather enough nail polish between you and your neighbors it could be worth it!
There are many options to dispose of your old nail polish, so please, don’t send it to the landfill.
Have you ever wondered about plastic bottle caps? Or had a question about whether they're recyclable? Should they go in the trash?
Here's your answer:
Recycle your plastic bottles with the caps ON the bottles. If the caps are placed in the recycle bin separate from the bottle, they will essentially get lost and end up in the landfill.
“But wait… I thought it was off” you might say. It used to be that way. Caps were made of more than one type of plastic melted together that made recycling virtually impossible. But a few years ago, the Plastic Bottle Council ruled that caps should only be made of one kind of plastic to promote more recycling. Now that most plastic bottle caps are all made of the same, single material, recyclers can separate them out.
Here's how:
1. You recycle your bottle with cap on
2. Bottle and cap are sorted out from the rest of your recycling (paper, metal, glass, etc) and baled
3. Bottle and cap go to a Bottle Washing Plant
4. Bottles and caps are chopped into tiny bits called “flake” and washed with water
5. When washed, the cap flake floats and the bottle flake sinks
6. The cap flake is strained off of the washing tank, dried, and sent to be made into composite lumber (plastic decking material)
Used needles and other sharps… believe it or not, these are things we see far too often at our recycling center. Part of our recycling process includes hand sorting of items. While our employees wear personal protective equipment, including puncture resistant gloves, they can't always protect against tiny needles. Needles can injure people and spread infections that cause serious health conditions.
Never place loose needles and other sharps in household or public trash cans or recycling bins, and never flush them down the toilet. These acts put sanitation workers, janitors, housekeepers, household members, and children at risk of being harmed.
Safe ways to dispose of your sharps
Home Disposal
In NC, it is currently legal to dispose of home injection needles by putting them in a plastic laundry bottle. This also includes syringes, vials, and other injection-related materials you might use for self-injections. Please follow these directions:
Never place loose needles and syringes in the trash or recycling!
- Label container “Do Not Recycle.”
- Put sharps in point-first.
- Containers more than half-full should be disposed of.
- Store sharps in closed container with the cap screwed on.
- Place in your trash can ONLY.
Mail-back Programs
Mail-back disposal programs allow home sharps users to mail used sharps to licensed disposal facilities as a safe disposal option. These programs charge a fee for the service. Check with your healthcare provider or pharmacist, or search the yellow pages or Internet using key words “sharps mail-back.”
Needle Destruction Devices (that bend, break, incinerate, or shear needles)
-A device that incinerates needles and lancets can be used at home to destroy needles immediately after use. These small, portable devices use a few seconds of high heat to melt needles and reduce them to BB-size balls. Previously used only in healthcare facilities, these devices are now available in smaller, less expensive models for home use.
-A needle cutter or clipper automatically stores cut needles in a small refuse reservoir. Once the sharp is destroyed by heat or cutting, you can place the remains in a sealed container, such as a detergent bottle and place it in your household trash (not recycling).
Syringe Exchange Programs (SEP)
Sharps users can safely exchange used needles for new needles. Contact the North American Syringe Exchange Network at 253-272-4857.
I often hear from residents that they recycle EVERYTHING they can. But here is a question for you… do you recycle EVERYWHERE you can?
If we're honest, most of us have had times where we've put a recyclable bottle or can in the garbage. It's harder to recycle when it's inconvenient. Consider this:
What if you’re out and you only see a trash can around? How long are you willing to hold on to that bottle before you give up and just throw it in the garbage? Ever been to a sports event, concert, or park and not seen recycling containers? It can be really frustrating to feel like you only have the choice to throw something in the garbage, but you do have the choice to take that bottle with you to recycle later.
Do you know how many bottles are recycled in NC each year? 80%? 50%? No… it's only 30%. That means that 70% of the bottle waste we generate is being buried in landfills. Recycling is a choice you make. Sometimes it's not always the easiest choice, but when you choose to recycle, you are helping create American jobs. How?
When you recycle a plastic bottle, it can become a new plastic item like a bottle, container, or toy, but in Greensboro, it can also become something unexpected… yarn.
Anyone ever heard of polyester? Well, it's made from oil based products. The company Unifi is headquartered here in Greensboro, and has processing facilities in Reidsville and Yadkinville that transform plastic bottles into polyester yarn. The cool thing about this is that it's chemically identical to polyester sourced from oil, but created from recycled materials.
The uncool thing is that the Reidsville plant that processes the bottles has to source recycled bottles from all over the US, as well as Canada and Mexico. In fact, all of the bottles collected from NC would only run the facility for one day out of the entire year. The plant literally is buying Mexico’s waste, because some are too lazy to recycle.
Let’s change that. Can you join me in one simple commitment? Recycle all your plastic bottles this year. Simple enough, right? Maybe take it one step further and try to make sure your entire family recycles all of their plastic bottles, even if there are no recycling containers around when you are away from home.
For more information and videos about plastic bottle recycling, visit www.yourbottlemeansjobs.org
Holiday festivities can generate a lot of waste... Let's look at common party supplies, their disposal methods, and alternatives to help you have a wasteless gathering!
- Napkins: napkins, tissues, and tissue paper can't be recycled since their fibers are too short to be made into anything new. Consider using cloth napkins over and over again. It's a great way to green up your party while making it super fancy!
- Toothpicks: even though paper is made from wood, we cannot accept any wood items in our recycling program. This includes scrap wood and those tiny toothpicks. Swap toothpicks in your cheese cubes for reusable and decorative tongs.
- Stir sticks and straws: both of these plastic items are not recyclable. Because of their shape and size, they fall through the cracks of the machinery at the recycling facility and end up going to the landfill. Consider reusable straws and stir sticks (or spoons) this season and you will not have to purchase these single-use plastics each year.
Corks: both natural and synthetic corks are not recyclable in your regular recycling, but try one of these ideas:
- Check out this cool Wine Cork Recycling Program! Up to 2 cents per cork is donated to causes that support forest and ocean conservation. Many of the corks they receive are also donated to non-profit organizations.
- Donate corks to Reconsidered Goods, the Creative Reuse Center of the Triad, for local makers, crafters, and students to create beautiful works of art with items that otherwise might have been landfilled.
Both of these organizations create American jobs for crafters, makers, and small business owners!
Wishing you happy--and wasteless--holiday gatherings!
Once the holidays are over, you may wonder what to do with all the leftover gift wrap. Read on to find out!
- Decorations, gift wrap, bags, tissue paper, bows, and ribbons cannot be recycled. Instead, they should go into your trash can. Why?
-Gift wrap can sometimes contain layers of plastic, foil, or other items that contaminate paper recycling processes, so please do not recycle them.
-Bows and ribbons can become tanglers! Be extra careful not to recycle them.
-Tissue paper fibers are too low quality to be made into new things, so they're not recyclable either. - If you have gently used decorations, bows, bags, etc, that you no longer want, consider donating them to Reconsidered Goods, the Creative Reuse Center of the Triad, for an end of year tax write-off!
- Have lots of extra cardboard? Break them down before placing them in your recycling container--it saves a ton of space.
You can also try these options for creative reuse…
-Save what you can to reuse next year.
-Give gifts in reusable bags. It's the gift that everyone's happy to receive because they can use them over and over again!
-Wrap your gifts in recyclable paper. This year, I chose to use old, outdated maps and tiny reusable cloth stockings for smaller items. See the attached pictures for how I made them festive. You can often find large quantities of paper like this at Reconsidered Goods. (2805 Patterson St. Tues-Sat, 10-5, Sun 12-5)Happy Gift-Giving!
- Decorations, gift wrap, bags, tissue paper, bows, and ribbons cannot be recycled. Instead, they should go into your trash can. Why?
Every year, millions of packages, shipping envelopes, and goodies crisscross the country. Here are some common recycling questions regarding shipping and packaging:
- If your cardboard boxes have tape on them, they are ok to recycle. Break down boxes to save space!
- Sometimes packages have plastic wrap stuck to the outside to hold shipping invoices. If you could remove that plastic wrap (and recycle at the grocery store), that would be helpful. If it is stuck on with industrial glue you cannot get off, you can still recycle the cardboard box.
- Mailing envelopes that are ONLY paper, even the ones with the little plastic windows you often find in bills, are fine to recycle.
- Mailing envelopes that are ONLY made of plastic film, with or without bubble wrap, (i.e. the ones that clothing often is shipped in) are only recyclable at the grocery store--not at home.
- If a mailing envelope is both paper and plastic (i.e. the kind with bubble wrap inside and paper on the outside), those need to go in your trash can.
Check out the attached image for examples of the items above.
Have excess garbage? You can take excess trash to the Burnt Poplar Transfer Station.
Thanksgiving… a wonderful holiday where we gather together to celebrate what we're thankful for. And after your holiday meal, remember to put all food scraps and leftovers in your trash bin or compost. Food scraps don’t belong in recycling containers.
Food is one of the most frequent contaminants at our recycling processing facility. While your recycling containers don't have to be spotless, please don't toss your half-full jars of cranberry sauce and takeout from last month in the recycling. Food scraps, leftovers, disposable plates, cups, flatware, and napkins (paper, plastic, or Styrofoam) cannot be recycled.
Disposable plastic and Styrofoam plates, no matter how clean, are not recyclable. Paper plates, napkins, and paper towels can't be recycled either because they're too low quality to be recycled into new paper products.
Disposable cups of any kind are not recyclable. They are made of low quality materials and become a contaminant in the plastic container recycling processes. You CAN recycle disposable plastic cups.
Disposable spoons, forks, knives, and serving utensils cannot be recycled because they fall into our glass storage area. This big pile of glass travels to the glass recycling plant and they sort out non-glass material. Anything that is not glass and cannot be pulled out with a magnet will then go to the landfill.
Help reduce our waste and contamination in recycling this holiday season! Consider using reusable plates, cups, forks, and napkins for festivities and gatherings. If you do use disposable, make sure all guests know what is recyclable (plastic cups only), and that all other items should go in the trash. If you have ever considered backyard composting, try it now! Visit this site for more information about how to backyard compost.
And remember that grease should never be poured down your drain after holiday meals. Place it in a covered can or bottle and take it to the Household Hazardous Waste Center for proper disposal.
Have you ever wondered if recycling is really worth the effort? I have personally had residents ask whether their recyclables were just going to get dumped into a landfill. Let's clear up a few questions…
- Why do I see recycling trucks picking up my trash?
All of our trucks have the same graphic designs on the side--recycling is something that we want everyone to think about, so we put our pretty graphics on all of our trucks. There are designated trash and recycling trucks that pick up only trash or only recycling. - I saw a truck pick up both the trash and recycling from the same house. WHY?
Typically this is because there is something non-recyclable sticking out of the recycling cart such as carpet, blinds, bedding, or yard waste. Contamination like this can be harmful to the machinery and workers at the recycling facility. For this reason, the carts are skipped by the recycling truck, tagged, and the garbage drivers pick them up. - Doesn't recycling just go to the landfill anyway? I've heard you sort through the trash for recycling, so why should I put forth the effort to separate recycling?
The City provides (and your tax dollars pay for) two truck routes with distinctly separate destinations. Unfortunately, any recyclable materials that you put in the trash are picked up by our garbage trucks, taken directly to a transfer station, placed into a tractor-trailer, and taken straight to a landfill. The time, effort, and money it would cost to hand sort the recyclables out of your garbage would be an inefficient use of your tax dollars--especially when you can sort at home! All materials you put in the recycling cart are taken directly to the recycling facility.
Recycling conserves resources, reduces waste to landfills, and creates jobs in the Carolinas. Greensboro is committed to making our community a great place to live, work, and play. Recycling is just one of the great ways that we can all work together to make our home a cleaner, safer, and more beautiful place. You may not feel like what you do as an individual makes a big difference--like you’re just a drop in the ocean. But if we all make small changes, those individual drops can make huge waves of change by sharing knowledge, encouraging others to recycle, and recycling every day of the year.
- Why do I see recycling trucks picking up my trash?
Have you ever held up a cord or hose and thought to yourself "this is made of plastic… so, do I recycle it, trash it, or take it somewhere special?""Tanglers" are a group of items that can damage recycling machinery. Any item that is put in the recycling container that isn't recyclable is called a contaminant. Ropes, wires, hoses, cords, clothes, plastic and cloth sheets, tarps, wire hangers, and plastic bags wrap around our rotating machine parts and not only decrease their ability to sort recycling, but can also break expensive equipment.
Folks that work at the Recycling Center must climb into these machines and cut out anything that has gotten tangled by hand--not a super safe task. By separating out objects that cannot hold their shape, you are making safer work environments for lots of people in the recycling industry. If you are unsure if something is a tangler or not, please put it in the landfill-bound bin (or reach out to me and I will help).
In summary, make sure that you are landfilling potentially harmful items instead of recycling them. Check out our recycling guide (see picture) for examples of what should and should not be recycled.
Wrappers, decorations, costumes… oh my!
Halloween is right around the corner and you may have lingering questions about what items are recyclable, what should be trashed, and what is donation worthy.
- Candy is the focal point of Halloween festivities. All candy wrappers and snack bags should go in your landfill-bound bin. If you have purchased a big bag of snacks, the outside bag that all the other candy or snacks came in is recyclable with your other plastic bags, film, and wrap at the grocery stores. Alternatively, check out Terracycle for a snack bag/wrapper mail in recycling program and fundraiser. Any cardboard boxes can be recycled, as long as they are empty.
- Aluminum foil can only be recycled if it doesn't have any leftover food in it, although it's ok if it isn't 100% clean. Be sure to roll it up into a loose ball about the size of a tennis ball. Any smaller and it will fall through the cracks and not get recycled. Pro Recycler Tip: All those tiny candies and kisses that are wrapped in foil… collect the foil until you have enough to make a big enough ball!
- Decorations are not recyclable, but if you think yours still have life in them and you're ready to get rid of them, consider donating. Not all non-profits accept decorations, but Reconsidered Goods, our local non-profit Creative Reuse Center makes items like these available to artists, teachers, makers, crafters, and you at low cost - plus you get a tax write-off for donating! Also, your unwanted decorations may become part of something new and fresh!
- Costumes are a great item to donate or consign! Plus if you are looking for next year's costume when you donate yours, you might find a great deal!
Light bulbs - once they are burnt out, what do you do with them? Read more for this week's recycling tip:
When properly disposed of at the Household Hazardous Waste Center, ALL light bulbs, including those with and without mercury are 100% recyclable! The various components are broken apart and made into a variety of new items.
- Glass is recycled into new glass items
- Aluminum end caps are recycled into other aluminum products
- Phosphor powder (a component of fluorescent bulbs) is cleaned and returned back into light tubes
- Wire goes to metal recycling facilities
- Mercury is purified in a high temperature oven and recycled as metallic mercury
Light bulbs that end up in the landfill do not break down over time. Their valuable (and sometimes toxic) components will remain in landfills for the foreseeable future as is. Make sure you do your part and recycle your light bulbs at EcoFlo Inc.
To properly dispose of lightbulbs, they need to be taken to the Household Hazardous Waste drop-off site (EcoFlo). This location is free to all Guilford County residents. Household waste only, no businesses please (e-mail me if you need assistance with hazardous business waste disposal).
You might wonder… "Batteries are made of metal… does that make them recyclable in my bin at home? Why am I supposed to take them to the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) drop-off site? What happens if batteries are put in the bins at home?"
All batteries--rechargeable and non-rechargeable--should be taken to the HHW Collection Center for disposal. Alkaline batteries (non-rechargeable) have no recycling value. Since they have hazardous chemicals inside, it is EXTREMELY important that they be taken to the HHW drop-off location to be disposed of in a special landfill.
All other batteries that are rechargeable, like AA, AAA, 9V, power tools, etc. DO get recycled. The metals inside and the plastic exterior both have good markets for recycling. Because of this, it is even more important that these batteries get recycled at the HHW location and not placed in curbside recycling or landfill-bound bins.
At our recycling and transfer station (landfill waste) we have had battery-ignited fires - see attached image. The batteries were crushed under the weight of waste or equipment, leaked dangerous chemicals, and started fires among the paper and cardboard fuel. Our teams are trained to look out for fires and extinguish them, and we love our Greensboro firefighters! Thankfully we have had no injuries or major damage at either the recycling center or transfer station—BUT these situations can turn very dangerous very quickly. PLEASE share with others the importance of proper battery disposal. Safety is our number one priority, and your actions can make a big difference!
To properly dispose of batteries, take them to the Household Hazardous Waste drop-off site. You do not need to separate the rechargeable from the non-rechargeable batteries--they'll take care of that. This location is free to all Guilford County residents (you may need to show your license to prove you reside in Guilford County). Household waste only, no businesses please (e-mail us if you need assistance with hazardous business waste disposal).
Have you ever been told to look for the tiny triangles with little numbers inside to decide if something is recyclable or not? Well hold on tight because that rule no longer applies.
You will often find a tiny triangle/number combo on items made of plastic. While there may be recycling symbols (aka chasing arrows) on paper, metal, and glass objects, that usually indicates that the item is made from recycled materials.
When those tiny triangles with little numbers inside were designed, they were intended to be plastic identification codes for plastic processing. Each of the numbers, from 1 to 7, represented a different type of plastic material from plastic drinking bottles, to detergent jugs, toys, and even mixed plastics.
Since all plastics are chemically different, they behave differently when melted, washed, or otherwise treated, so it was important that manufacturers knew what type of recycled plastic they were getting. But these days, new recycling technology can automatically sort plastics (lasers are involved and it's pretty cool).
So today, many communities can accept ALMOST all numbered plastics. That's why Greensboro doesn't include the recycling numbers in our information. The numbers make it confusing because the rules are inconsistent. For example, we DO accept RIC #s 1-7, but do not accept plastic bags, which can be made out of #2 or #4 plastic. We DO accept #6 plastic, but NOT Styrofoam, which often has a tiny 6 inside a triangle. See… even I'm getting a headache.
So let's keep it simple. We recycle plastic bottles, tubs, and jugs. Just remember, if it is plastic and falls into any of these category, recycle it. Our biggest offenders are Styrofoam and "Tanglers" (anything that cannot hold its shape, like bags, sheets, hoses, etc.), so help us out by keeping those out of your recycling bin. If you are unsure if something is a tangler or not, please put it in the landfill-bound bin (or reach out to me and I will help).
The big take home message for you is this: a tiny triangle or recycling symbol doesn't automatically mean that something is recyclable!
Ever Wonder… is this paper supposed to be recycled? Read more to find out about mail, boxes, books, and shredded paper.
- Do I need to remove the plastic windows on envelopes? What about the plastic around the opening of tissue boxes?
No, those are fine to leave on your envelopes and tissue boxes. That small amount of plastic is not detrimental to paper mill processing. If anything has a plastic wrapping around it (several boxes of tissues, paper towels, etc), that should be removed and recycled at the grocery store. Break boxes down to save space in your recycling cart!
- Is glossy paper ok, like magazines?
Yes! We want your magazines, but not the plastic sleeves they sometimes come in. Photo paper cannot be recycled at this time.
- Do I need to bundle or bag my paper products?
No, everything should be loose in the bin. No bagging or bundling since it can damage equipment at the recycling center.
- Are books recyclable?
Paperback books are recyclable as is. Hardback books need to have the hardback covers removed and landfilled. (Please exhaust all other efforts to donate books before recycling!)
- What about shredded paper… should that be put in the bin loose too?
Shredded paper is no longer recyclable in Greensboro. It is very difficult to capture, usually contaminates other recycling, and also gets very dirty, making it unrecyclable. To best dispose of sensitive documents, bring them to one of our shredding events. Shred trucks allow you to watch your documents be shredded, then are funneled directly into recycling streams to create more high quality paper! Check the GSO Collects app for upcoming Recycle Rodeos.
- Do I need to remove the plastic windows on envelopes? What about the plastic around the opening of tissue boxes?
We always get asked about where to put plastic bags. They should never be put in your residential recycling container and here's why.
Plastic bags, film, and wrap should never be mixed in with your recycling because it tangles around machinery at the recycling processing facility. There are a lot of rotating machines that work hard to separate your paper/cardboard products from objects like bottles and jugs.
When flimsy materials like plastic bags go through these machines, they cause a great big tangle. Folks that work at the Recycling Center must stop the machines, climb into them and cut out anything that has gotten tangled by hand--not a super safe task. By separating out objects that don't hold their shape, you make safer work environments for people in the recycling industry.
When your plastic bags, film, and wrap are recycled at the grocery store, they go to a different recycling facility that only makes one thing: plastic decking material. See the attached pictures for a look at the problems, solutions, and what plastic film can be made into!
It is very important that all items that are taken to the grocery store for recycling are as CLEAN and DRY as possible. Water is detrimental to the processing that makes the plastic decking material.
Here are all of the items you can take to the grocery store collection bins:
- Grocery, retail, newspaper, and produce bags
- Bubble wrap/packaging "pillows"/shipping wrap
- Shrink wrap (around cases of water bottles or sports drinks)
- Plastic wrap that encases paper towel/toilet paper
- Dry cleaner bags
Finally, there is a program in Greensboro called Operation Bed Roll. Residents learn to reuse plastic bags by making them into "plarn" (plastic yarn) and then crochet them into portable sleeping surfaces for people experiencing homelessness. If you are interested in learning more about this project, please visit www.greensboro-nc.gov/plarn.
Ever Wonder… how clean does my recycling need to be? Have someone in your family that thinks it needs to be spotless? Well now the debate is over.
Your containers do not have to be spotless. There's no need to scrub every food particle off or put them in the dishwasher before recycling. Really, most empty containers just need a quick rinse.For example: peanut butter jars are pretty tough to get clean. We recommend you put just a little bit of water in the empty jar, swish it around, maybe let it sit overnight, dump out the water, put the lid back on (if it is a plastic jar and lid), and recycle it. Even if there are little streaks of PB left in the jar, that's ok.
That being said, please do not toss your half-full jars of mayo jars and ketchup bottles in the recycling. For folks working in the recycling processing facilities, it's wasteful and not sanitary. Plus, your recycling cart will stay fresher smelling if there is less food residue in your bottles and jars.