“Wish”-cycling

Wishcycling refers to the action when an individual recycles something, in an attempt to be sustainable, and unknowingly contaminates a batch of recycled material. This is due to strict regulations and instructions when it comes to recycling practices. Someone can often times be well-intentioned and be under the impression that a certain item was recyclable, but a little information can go a long way. Some items that often contaminate batches include:

• Receipts (Thermal Paper)

Ways to better prevent wishcycling:

• Familiarize yourself with your local recycling plants regulations/requirements, as well as their accept/reject list. This often includes things like cleaning food residue and grease off of items. Flattening boxes.

The biggest step to sustainable recycling practices is knowing what can and can’t be recycled in single-stream collection facilities. This is one of the biggest problems NewEarth Initiative plans to face, is finding ways to recycle much more than is currently being processed.