The issue with recycling plastic caps is their size. If they are too small, they fall through the sorting machinery, resulting it their just getting swept up and trashed anyway. It’s safe to presume that if the plastic container is recyclable, the cap is also, but to be recycled loose, a cap or lid must be at least 2 inches across in order to make it through the sorting machines.  Even while we are not recycling glass, large plastic or metal caps, such as mustard jar covers can still be recycled loose, as long as they are at least 2 inches across. Leave the plastic cap on a plastic container, regardless of the size of the cap, but remove it from glass. 

If the plastic cap is on a paper carton, such as a milk carton, someone will eventually have to remove the plastic from the paper. Or it will be left over when the paper is dissolved. It will then be filtered out for disposal. Since that happens at the mills where the paper is reprocessed, neither we nor our recyclables collector has anything to say about whether the plastic is recovered, burned or sent to a landfill, so the caps are best removed and disposed of as trash. It’s cheaper for us to let Casella Waste System collect them as trash, and ecomaine recycler will burn them for energy. 

Lids of any kind should not be left on glass jars. Either plastic or metal, the lids make big problems when the glass is crushed, because they can’t be easily or safely removed from the crushed glass. That means plastic lids or covers need to be put into the trash, unless they are left on a plastic container or are at least 2 inches across. Metal lids can be recycled loosely because they are easily removed from the paper sorters by a large magnet, which then deposits them in a metals pile for baling. 

A less than obvious issue is the plastic lids on take-out coffee cups. Those are larger than 2 inches, but they are too light to sort properly, so they become contamination in the paper bales. They need to go into the trash. The paper cups can be recycled. 

Another less than obvious problem is the plastic containers in which motor oil is purchased. Those are often #2 plastic, and are often marked as well, but they are not recyclable in our systems. The oil or oil residue that remains inside of them is a fire hazard first, and does not simply mix with the molten plastic, even though petroleum is a major component of the plastic in the first place. Any remaining oil residue needs to be handled as the hazardous waste it really is, then the container should be put in the trash. 

Ultimately, nothing can be recycled unless there is somebody who can use the stuff. That means what we collect and bale up has to meet the standards and requirements of the mill or factory that is going to turn the recycled material into new products. A bale of a commodity that does not meet those requirements is contaminated, and can’t be sold. 

The Recycle Bin is a weekly 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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