Here’s a few things you should know about recycling materials, post-holiday season:

Ribbons

Ribbons are generally non-natural fabric, often with lots of other stuff mixed in. We really cannot recycle them. Consider making paper bows or decorations instead of buying non-recyclables.

Wrapping Paper

With holidays this is an especially large problem. Much of the wrapping we use is recyclable, but much of it is not. What is not recyclable is any paper with metal or foil on it, whether the paper itself is really a type of foil or cellophane, or it simply has shiny and sparkly designs printed on it with a plastic or foil technique.

I urge everyone to use only paper that has nothing but ink in its designs, and to then try to re-use it first, either for wrapping or packing. If it’s too torn and mangled to use it again, then recycle it. If it’s not recyclable paper, you will need to put it in the trash.

The default discard solution here really needs to be the trash. If it goes into recycling, but can’t be recycled, entire lots of recyclables are often pulled out with it, and trashed by the processor. Until we have a processor that does waste-to-energy, we need to put that stuff directly into the trash without anyone processing it first.

Gift Boxes

We have the same issue with gift boxes. If they are silvery, gold-colored or shiny, they probably have a plastic or foil coating on them, and they are trash. Whenever possible, we should choose white or printed cardboard boxes for our gifts. Those we can recycle.

When recycling boxes of any sort, please be kind to the haulers and sorters by flattening any boxes or cartons. It doesn’t matter if the corners get torn because they’re being recycled, so they are going to be turned into pulp very soon anyway, but flattening them makes them much easier to handle.

Tissue paper

While I have no specific guidance on this from Casella, my reading suggests that tissue paper is of a low enough quality that it does not mix well with office paper, envelopes, letters, etc. Its use should be minimized, then it should be put into the trash.

Plastic Mailers

If things arrived at your house in plastic mailing envelopes, you can remove the labels (I usually cut them out with either scissors or the tool for slitting envelopes open). Toss the labels, and recycle the envelopes at the grocery store (Hannaford, anyway), along with the single-use bags and other plastic wrappings we find around our groceries.

Paper mailers

If the mailing envelope is all paper., it can be recycled. The metal clasp can be easily removed when the paper is processed. If the envelope is lined with bubble wrap, it cannot be recycled and must be trashed

The Recycle Bin is a weekly question and answer column on what to recycle, what not to recycle, and why, in Brunswick. The public is encouraged to submit questions by email to brunsrecycleinfo@gmail.com. Harry Hopcroft is a member of the Brunswick Recycling and Sustainability Committee.

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