6 Recycling Myths Debunked

With the recycling industry becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s society, our common misconceptions surrounding recycling are at an all-time high. Having all the facts is more important now than ever before. That said, recycling is a community effort and requires education on your state's guidelines for recycling right.

On top of that, recycling helps our world become more economical, sustainable, and environmentally conscious.

Most of our opinions are based on what we see and what we’re told. Unfortunately, these two senses are often mixed in translation and can skew an individual's mindset on certain topics without even knowing.

After reading this article, we hope you can tell facts from fiction regarding your recycling efforts, how it contributes to a cleaner Earth for future generations, and making informed decisions about recycling.

We wanted to take this time to debunk six of the most common myths surrounding recycling and its efforts.

So without further ado, here are the six most common recycling myths debunked:

1. Recycling is Hard

This is one of the most common reasons why many U.S. homeowners don’t recycle. However, in our community, that couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, Ohio has one of the more relaxed guidelines surrounding recycling.

As a City of Columbus resident living in a single home (or four attached units or less), you will receive a 64-gallon blue cart free of charge.

Acceptable recyclable materials include:

• Aluminum and steel cans - and lids
• Flattened cardboard and pizza boxes (free of food and grease)
• All plastic bottles numbered 1-7
• Newspaper, magazines, catalogs, junk mail, computer paper, cereal and other dry food boxes, and phone books
• Glass bottles and jars
• Cartons and juice boxes
• Shredded paper (place in a clear plastic bag before placing in blue cart)

Moreover, unlike cities in other states, Columbus uses a recycling program called single-stream recycling. Utilizing this recycling process means homeowners in our community don’t have to sort their recyclables into separate bins, bags, or containers.

Rumpke’s recycled material recovery facility uses cutting-edge technology that sorts all our recyclables by type and shape. After properly sorting your recycling into its appropriate bin, it’s bundled and sent to one of our local recycling partners, making recycling easier than ever.

2. Recycling Is Pointless Because Most of It Ends Up in a Landfill Anyways

While this can be true in certain circumstances, it’s not true in every case. Keep in mind that when you recycle, not everything is accepted. If your recycling isn’t accepted, typically it’s because you put non-recyclable items in your bin or your recycling has been contaminated.

Contamination can occur when items that can't be recycled are put in the container—for example, leftover/compostable food, pet waste, yard waste, cleaning products, etc.

In this instance, the recycling plant will try to sort your recycling accordingly; however, if they cannot, the “recycling” will eventually end up in a landfill because of the contamination. Nevertheless, this shouldn’t deter you from recycling.

If My Recycling Doesn't Go to a Landfill, Where Does It End Up?

Our recyclables are picked up from our curbs and taken to the Rumpke material recovery facility. From there, the recyclables are sorted and bundled to be redistributed.

In our community, our recycling doesn't make it too far before it’s reused. In fact, 80% of all our recycled materials are distributed within a 150-mile radius of Columbus. Let’s take a look below to see where each of your recycling materials ends up:

• Aluminum Cans: Anheuser-Busch (Columbus, Ohio)
• Glass Bottles: John Manville (Defiance, OH) or Owens Illinois (Zanesville, OH)
• Paper Products: Rock-Tenn Paper (Columbus, OH)
• Plastic Bottles: Haviland Drainage (Haviland, OH) or Signode Plastic (Florence, KY)
• Steel Cans: I.H. Schelezinger (Columbus, OH)

3. Everything I Put In My Recycling Bin Gets Recycled

As mentioned above, not everything you put in your recycling bin makes it to the recycling center; however, knowing when certain materials won’t be accepted can decrease the amount of your recycling that ends up in a landfill.

This is commonly referred to as “Wish-Cycling.” Wish-Cycling is when you put items in your recycling bin that you “wish” or “hope” will be recycled, regardless of material type. While wish-cycling does stem from good intentions, it creates a negative impact on the amount of materials you are recycling.

Three main problems when it comes to wish-cycling:

1. It creates more waste
2. It’s typically more costly and time-consuming
3. It’s more hurtful than helpful

Remember that in the world of recycling, all materials are not created equally. Contact your local government if you have questions regarding acceptable items through curbside recycling.

If you are a Columbus homeowner, you can visit the City of Columbus recycling page, and find the item/material you are trying to recycle. If it can’t be recycled through your curbside recycling pickup, it will tell you how to recycle or dispose of it.

How To Avoid Wishcycling

According to Method Recycling, there are various ways to avoid wish-cycling, including but not limited to the following:

• Self Educate- understand what can be recycled at home or in the workplace, and tell your friends and family what you learned.
• Ensure Which Plastics Can Be Recycled- plastic products are the #1 wish-cycled materials. Because of this, it's important to know your city/state's rules and regulations when recycling plastics. As previously stated, all plastics labeled 1-7 are acceptable in your curbside recycling pickup.
  
  Pro Tip: Single-use plastics (ex: plastic grocery bags) are not recyclable; you can properly dispose of them at your local grocery store.
  
  
• Try Other Alternatives- using paper over plastic, bringing your own reusable bags to the grocery store, and opt-in for bulk options when they make the most sense.
• When In Doubt, Throw It Out- if you are unsure if the material you are trying to recycle is recyclable, throw it out. This means it will go to a landfill; however, it will save time, energy, and money because it wasn’t disposed of incorrectly in the first place.

4. Recycling Uses More Energy Than It Saves

Contrary to popular belief, when you recycle, it uses half the energy to recycle the material than it would to make a new product from scratch. Doing so can save up to half of the recycling facilities' energy efficiency, which is good for you, your community, and the environment.

For example, on average, recycling paper saves about 60% of the energy needed to make new paper. Since we rely on trees for the air we breathe, recycling paper can lower our carbon footprint and help sustain all living organisms.

This means that a single ton of recycled paper can save up to 17 trees while simultaneously decreasing the use of natural resources and water waste from the material recovery facility process. Additionally, recycling reduces our greenhouse gas emissions linked to manufacturing products from raw materials.

Energy Saved Through Recycling

Below are the energy savings through your recycling effort for each material, rather than making it from raw materials:

• Aluminum: 95%
• Steel: 60%
• Paper: 40%
• Plastics: 70%
• Glass: 40%

With these numbers, it’s hard to argue that these savings don’t outweigh the total energy created by burning or burying your trash in a landfill.

5. Compostable Plastics Can Be Recycled

As stated earlier, all of our plastic waste is not created equally. While compostable plastic is biodegradable, not every biodegradable plastic is compostable.

Before we get into the weeds of it all, it’s important to note the differences between the terms compostable and biodegradable.

Compostable

Compostable materials break down at the same (or similar) rate as organic matter, it leaves little or no visual toxic remnants, and if it’s certified compostable material, it will break down within 180 days.

Biodegradable

Biodegradable materials break up into smaller pieces, they can leave toxic remnants, and biodegradation can happen over an unknown amount of time, and in some cases, it can take decades for biodegradable materials to break down.

What Are Biodegradable and Compostable Plastics?

Biodegradable plastic refers to any plastic that can be decomposed by the action of living microbes. Biodegradable plastics are most frequently made with renewable raw materials, microorganisms, petrochemicals, or a combination of all three.

On the other hand, compostable plastic refers to the action of biodegrading into the soil used to fertilize crops and circulate organic resources back into our economy. Compostable plastics are typically made from renewable materials, such as:

• Starch (Corn, Potato, and Tapioca)
• Cellulose
• Soy Protein

As a bonus, these plastics are non-toxic and decomposed into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass.

Biobased Plastics

However, it’s important not to mix up these terms with biobased plastics, which are fully (or partially) made from biological resources, such as plants, instead of fossil raw materials. Because these products are made out of plants, they should all be recycled, right?... Wrong.

With today’s technology, biobased plastics can be designed with the same mechanical makeup as petroleum-based plastic. That said, if a biobased product is developed like petroleum-based plastics, it can have the same lifespan as real petroleum-based plastic.  

Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems surrounding biobased plastics is whether or not they can be recycled, which can vary between city, state, and zip code. The good news is, with technological advancements at an all-time high, like petroleum-based plastics, bioplastics can be genetically engineered to be biodegradable or compostable.

6. Recycling Doesn’t Make Economic Sense

This is another myth that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the economic sense of recycling is one of the biggest reasons for our community to recycle. When you recycle, it creates and saves jobs right in your own backyard.

In 2018, the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, more commonly known as SWACO, commissioned a study by DSM Environmental Services to determine the overall economic impact of recycling and the many jobs it creates. Below are their findings:

• There are 372 recycling businesses in central Ohio
• Combined, they have employed over 5,000 workers
• It has a payroll of over $230 million
• It generates an average of $1.3 billion in revenue

Flash forward a few years to 2023, and according to the official City of Columbus government website, today, recycling is over a $20 billion business that provides over 100,000 jobs to Ohioans. To put that in perspective, with every 10,000 tons of waste, you could create up to 36 jobs.

On the other hand, the same amount of waste (10,000 tons) going to a landfill will only create six jobs; that's over a 100% increase in job revenue when you opt to recycle.

What’s Next?

With so much misinformation out there surrounding recycling, we hope this article can help you determine fact versus fiction regarding common recycling myths within our community.

Moreover, weekly bin pick-up will make recycling within city limits even easier. This is a game changer for many Columbus residents and will encourage homeowners to recycle more and teach their friends and families what’s recyclable and why.

Our current Climate Action Plan aims to reduce the amount of waste going into landfills, which will help Columbus reduce carbon emissions and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

As of today, only 25% of Columbus households recycle; however, with the update to the weekly recycling collection, the city is shooting for a 15% increase (40% total) in recyclables to improve our communities waste management.

How Is Fire & Ice Contributing?

Well, I’m glad you asked!

Our community has a terrible littering and recycling problem. Along with the city, we are trying to get ahead of the Earth's pollution one mile at a time.

To do so, we’re launching our “Sponsor A Highway Campaign,” which sponsors 200 miles of highways surrounding the greater Columbus area to clean up litter, stop pollution, and make our city a better place to live, work, and visit.

At the end of the day, we don't want our beautiful city to end up like the picture below, so be sure to join us in cleaning up Columbus!

Our “Sponsor a Highway” Campaign will begin summer of 2023, so stay tuned for all news and updates surrounding our green initiatives.

We look forward to making our community better!