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Can You Recycle Used Pizza Boxes?
Delish ^ | Wed, June 8, 2022 | Gabby Romero

Posted on 06/09/2022 3:47:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway

It's time to debunk this urban legend.

There are many contentious debates when it comes to pizza. Cheese or pepperoni? New York- or Chicago-style? Pro- or anti-pineapple? While all of these arguments may never be resolved, we're here to discuss one that should have a definite answer: Should you put used pizza boxes in the recycling bin or the trash?

One of the reasons for this cardboard confusion is that the answer may vary based on where you live. Recycling centers across the country each have their own guidelines for what you can recycle. In New York City, for example, you're free to add your used pizza box to the recycling with the rest of your cardboard. But in other municipalities, like Huntsville, Alabama, for example, you need to put it in your trash.

Why can't cities agree on where to dispose of pizza boxes? It has to do with the grease. Oil, cheese, and other pizza remnants can compromise the inter-fiber bonding that occurs during the recycling process. This can make large quantities of recycled paper weak. But is it really a big deal?

According to a study commissioned by the packaging company WestRock (they supply pizza boxes to Domino's), greasy boxes don't do as much damage as some people may think. They calculated the amount of grease in your average used pizza box and did the math.

The study found that the strength of the recycled material degrades when the cardboard is 20% grease by weight. Most used pizza boxes' grease-by-weight percentage hovers at around 1 to 2%. Since they only make up around 2% of all recycled corrugated cardboard every year, the amount of grease found in our recycling centers won't make a significant impact.

So what does this mean for us when it comes to recycling at home? When in doubt, check your local recycling rules. Domino's has made the process easy for everyone: Go to their website and plug in your ZIP code, and the site will tell you if your local recycling center accepts pizza boxes. About 70% of recycling centers in the United States do accept them—just remove any liners, leftover food, and tiny plastic tables.

For the remaining 30% that don't allow pizza boxes to be recycled, Domino's and several cardboard producers launched The Recycling Partnership in 2020 to divert pizza boxes from landfills. You can get involved by reading their toolkit and encouraging your local recycling center to take pizza boxes.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Food; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: grease; pizza; recycling
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To: nickcarraway

they could be good weed paper in a garden.


61 posted on 06/09/2022 6:15:32 PM PDT by RebelTXRose (Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us! PRAY THE ROSARY!)
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To: ApplegateRanch

Does anyone know what to do with empty propane canisters? (the kind that you use for propane space heaters etc).


62 posted on 06/09/2022 6:16:29 PM PDT by neverevergiveup (()))
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To: All

I clean them up a little and take them back to the pizza place to reuse. I’m proud to do my part for recycling.


63 posted on 06/09/2022 7:02:20 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Where is Biden leading us and what's with the hand basket")
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To: End Times Sentinel
I quit recycling 15 years ago when the recycling crew tried to stage an intervention for me. Stop looking at my bottle consumption...

Those at our facility look at my bottles for ideas of what to buy.

BTW, you would think of all people, we conservatives would be doing the most recycling.

I hate to see anything wasted, conserve as much as possible.

64 posted on 06/09/2022 7:08:11 PM PDT by Mogger
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To: End Times Sentinel

LOL


65 posted on 06/09/2022 7:21:24 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: nickcarraway

The city gave us this huge blue recycling bin on wheels. It’s great for yard waste. Mine has never had a single item in it for recycling.

Curbside recycling is a colossal waste of money and resources.


66 posted on 06/09/2022 7:26:44 PM PDT by cyclotic (I won't give up my FREEDOM for your FEAR. Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee.)
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To: nickcarraway

Can You Recycle Used Pizza Boxes?

Why absolutely you can? They are great to get the camp fire started in the back yard. That grease catches fire real good and burns for a good long time.


67 posted on 06/09/2022 7:32:49 PM PDT by CapnJack ( )
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To: nickcarraway

Paper or Plastic? Bring your own cloth pizza box?


68 posted on 06/09/2022 7:33:38 PM PDT by showme_the_Glory (No more rhyming, and I mean it.........)
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To: nickcarraway

You can “recycle” ANYTHING. What happens to it after you throw it in a recycle bin is irrelevant.


69 posted on 06/09/2022 7:50:53 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Don't blame me, I voted for President Trump.)
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To: End Times Sentinel
That is certainly out of character for them...but living in a shame culture as they do, someone was gonna pay for that, probably because it reflected poorly on the Party.

This IS how they do business...

70 posted on 06/09/2022 8:13:44 PM PDT by rlmorel (Nolnah's Razor: Never attribute to incompetence that which is adequately explained by malice.)
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To: nickcarraway

I do worse things than put my pizza box in recycle, I recycle paper plates. When cleaning up before loading the dishwasher, there is soapy water to clean counters. You simply rinse them, and unless they don’t come clean easily, you put them with cardboard and paper..... SHOCKING NEWS I know.


71 posted on 06/09/2022 8:21:34 PM PDT by Glad2bnuts ((“If there are no absolutes by which to judge society, then society is absolute.” Francis Schaeffer,)
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To: neverevergiveup
Does anyone know what to do with empty propane canisters? (the kind that you use for propane space heaters etc).

Take it to U-Haul or AmeriGas, they often have a refill station.

Or try Home Depot, Lowe's, Wally World, CVS/Walgreens, etc etc, many of them run tank exchanges. For $20 or $30, you give them the empty one, and they give you a mostly-full one.

If you mean the little green 1lb ones, you can throw them away (take them to hazardous waste disposal if they aren't empty), or you can buy an adaptor for ~$20 and refill them from your big cans. Note once refilled, Fed law says you aren't supposed to transport them on the highway, but that's not a very enforceable law, at all.
72 posted on 06/09/2022 8:21:50 PM PDT by Svartalfiar
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To: nickcarraway

They can be recycled at a distance of 100-200 yards.


73 posted on 06/09/2022 8:31:04 PM PDT by lurk (u)
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To: neverevergiveup

I drill a 3/8” hole in each side and put them in metal recycle.

I have a drill press so it only takes a few seconds. One hole works but the second hole makes it more visible.


74 posted on 06/09/2022 8:32:16 PM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: Auntie Dem

Ever thought about looking at what you were putting into the machine?

Just an idea.


75 posted on 06/09/2022 8:41:39 PM PDT by Fledermaus (With Trans Republicans like McCarthy and McConnell do we really want them to win Congress in 2022?)
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To: packagingguy

Thermal plant


76 posted on 06/09/2022 8:42:49 PM PDT by Fledermaus (With Trans Republicans like McCarthy and McConnell do we really want them to win Congress in 2022?)
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To: Fledermaus

Do you know how much volume is in a large front-end leader’s bucket? Transmission gears, cases and axles are easily covered up in leaves, grass and branches. Plastic and glass bottles contaminate the compost and aren’t seen until they are seen in the end product. Even inspectors combing the incoming waste with metal detectors (a costly process) can’t catch it all.


77 posted on 06/09/2022 8:59:52 PM PDT by Auntie Dem (Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Terrorist lovers gotta go!)
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To: neverevergiveup

Bury them in the neighborhood AH’s fire pit?

Pacific Steel will buy them as scrap, provided they’ve been holed; other scrap dealers in other areas probably do also.


78 posted on 06/09/2022 10:03:08 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Love me, love my guns!)
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To: Auntie Dem
They finally figured out it was cheaper to hire inspectors to go around prior to the pick up and check the green waste cans for contamination and fine the homeowner.

Well there you go. They figured out how to sort the garbage by themselves, so I don't have to.

79 posted on 06/09/2022 10:08:26 PM PDT by gubamyster
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To: Auntie Dem; gubamyster
Just move your trash bin closest to the door and all is good if you just want to use one bin.

If recyclables don't get clean with a quick rinse I toss them in the trash. Food waste gets tossed in the trash on garbage day, but otherwise I use the little food bin to keep the smells down in the trash.

Pizza boxes in our area are in the paper bin if they aren't greasy - and yard bin if they are. I just toss them in the yard bin regardless.

I HATE it when my daughter's boyfriend tosses garbage in the recycling bin. One because I have to fish it out, but mostly just because he is an idiot after telling him each time and he still does it!

80 posted on 06/09/2022 10:17:33 PM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
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