At Solomon Container Service, we offer a variety of services including single-stream recycling. Single-stream recycling is a type of recycling that does not require the items collected to be separated into different containers based on what category they fall under, such as paper, plastic, or metal. Instead, the single-stream recycling company picks up all of the recycling in a single bin and takes it to a materials recovery facility (MRF). At the facility, the recyclable materials are then separated before going on to be recycled at a recycling center or mill.
So if you don’t even need to separate the recycling, why should you clean it before placing it in the recycling bin? One reason may be that your county or municipality requires you to do so. Another reason may be to save time and water at the facility the items end up at. Cleaning them at home ensures that they are ready to be recycled right away. There are several other reasons why you should rinse your recycling, and Solomon Container Service is here to explain.
Sticky and Smelly
The most simple reason you should rinse your recycling is that it helps keep your house, garage, or wherever you keep your recycling from smelling. The smell that comes from placing an almost empty milk carton in an enclosed container on a warm day is not a smell that you want to be lingering around your home.
You also don’t want harmful bacteria hanging out in the bin. Recycling a jar that has mold in it is not safe for anyone’s health. Rotten food also attracts bugs, specifically flies. No recycling plant is going to want maggot-covered containers coming into their facility, giving you yet another reason to make sure that you rinse containers completely before putting them out to the curb for single-stream recycling pick up.
When we say to wash your recyclables, we don’t just mean the inside of them. If that glass jar of hot sauce is finally empty, but the outside is coated in sauce, make sure it doesn’t end up in the recycling bin like that.
Maximizing Recycling – Rinse Recycling
When you utilize single-stream recycling, all of the different types of recyclable materials are intermingled. That may not seem like a big deal until you remember that you didn’t rinse out that container of rotten tomatoes. So, when it is mixed with other materials in the back of the collection truck, it spills all over them. That cardboard box full of papers is now ruined and can’t be recycled, ending up in a landfill instead of being reused. By cleaning your containers, you allow more items to be recycled.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle with Solomon Container Service
Solomon Container Service is a division of Municipal Recovery Inc., a single-stream recycling facility that prepares a variety of materials for direct shipment to recycling mills. In 2012, Solomon Container became the first and only single-stream recycling center in Wilkes-Barre, PA. For all your waste removal and recycling needs, contact the professionals. Serving Northeastern Pennsylvania for over 50 years, we are committed to providing you with the highest level of service. Contact us today!