With the holiday season of 2022 come and gone, all that wrapping paper used for gifts is now trash. Brent Bell, Vice President of Recycling Operations at Waste Management, joined Inside South Florida with recycling guidelines for the new year.
“Paper, cardboard, bottles and cans are accepted in every curbside program across the United States. Those are all great materials,” says Bell.
Just be sure your cardboard boxes aren’t dropped in the bin with certain packing materials.
“We want that plastic wrap and any foam packaging material removed. Those don’t belong in the recycling bin boxes,” says Bell.
When it comes to plastic bottles, Bell reminds us that only 3 out of 10 of these bottles make it to a recycling bin.
“That means that seven out of 10 of these are going in the landfill today,” says Bell. “We can reuse these and make them into new bottles. We can actually also make them into your new clothing, carpets and uniforms for our frontline employees at WM.”
As for your old Christmas decoration lighting, they don’t belong in the recycling bin.
“Please take those back to store drop off locations,” says Bell. “Home retail centers will often take those as well.”
For more information on items that can and can’t be recycled, visit WM.com
This Inside South Florida Segment is paid for by Waste Management
