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.
they could be good weed paper in a garden.
Does anyone know what to do with empty propane canisters? (the kind that you use for propane space heaters etc).
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.
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.
LOL
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.
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.
Paper or Plastic? Bring your own cloth pizza box?
You can “recycle” ANYTHING. What happens to it after you throw it in a recycle bin is irrelevant.
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.
They can be recycled at a distance of 100-200 yards.
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.
Ever thought about looking at what you were putting into the machine?
Just an idea.
Thermal plant
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.
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.
Well there you go. They figured out how to sort the garbage by themselves, so I don't have to.
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!
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