Now that we can include tp and pt tubes I've moved on to wondering whether "clean Brown pizza boxes" include white or other printed colors on pizza boxes can be recycled.
The pizza boxes that can be recycled are "clean corrugated brown" ones. Nothing else. They state it pretty clearly in the yes and the do not areas. I don't see why tp and pt tubes regardless of acceptance have anything to do with your query?
I am still confused about no egg cartons, something that seems like the poster child of being ok to recycle. And what do they mean about flattening cereal boxes. Back to that again along with boxes or am I not understanding something.
And I too remember when we had to separate everything: white glass; green glass, brown glass, aluminum, tin, paper and boxes. All the bins lined up in a row lol that likely eventually got co-mingled or at least that was the then prevailing conspiracy theory! ;-)
I learned today that the egg cartons are molded, and that involves certain chemicals that contaminate the stream.
Damn chickens. Somebody needs to straighten 'em out.
Hate to be all "not tubey" on everyone, but I posed the question directly to Public Works, and yesterday, the answer came that paper towel and toilet paper tubes are not allowed according to the recycling czars because: "Paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes should not be included in the mixed paper. It is not because of their shape. There is very little fiber content to them." I find this conclusion utterly mystifying, but there you go. If you google recycling toilet paper tubes, you find a number of suggestions of "fun" things to do with them -- like make electrical cord organizers and, most interesting to me, recycling them in compost.
That does not seem correct. Joan appears to be in Section 3 (I am in Section 4) and the pick up is on Tuesday. And Joan if no one has reached out to you yet, your phone depending on its age, can easily get the QR code by focusing your phone onto it. But that is a different issue and you now have the full website here.
Sections were changed some time ago when the town went from 12 sections to 6. The old sections 3 and 4 are now combined in section 2.
Joan - I concur UNLESS you are included in the section across the street from you, but I don't think that's the case. I assume that if a boundary is along a street, then the houses on one side of the street are in a different section from those on the other side. Is that correct?
I am in Section 2 and I believe that you are also.
Joan - I concur UNLESS you are included in the section across the street from you, but I don't think that's the case. I assume that if a boundary is along a street, then the houses on one side of the street are in a different section from those on the other side. Is that correct?
I am in Section 2 and I believe that you are also.
According to the map, both sides of a border street (Prospect, Valley, Elmwood) are in the same district. I am in section 2 because my mailing address is in district 2.
Joan - I concur UNLESS you are included in the section across the street from you, but I don't think that's the case. I assume that if a boundary is along a street, then the houses on one side of the street are in a different section from those on the other side. Is that correct?
I am in Section 2 and I believe that you are also.
According to the map, both sides of a border street (Prospect, Valley, Elmwood) are in the same district. I am in section 2 because my mailing address is in district 2.
Ah - I get it. So does the map indicate which district of the two possibilities the people who live on the border street belong to?
I read somewhere that it is about fiber length. The more times the fibers have been reprocessed, the shorter the fiber length gets, until it reaches a point where it is no longer long enough to effectively bind the material together, and is only good for compost. Grey cardboard, like in the tubes, is pretty far along the path from tree to dirt
I read somewhere that it is about fiber length. The more times the fibers have been reprocessed, the shorter the fiber length gets, until it reaches a point where it is no longer long enough to effectively bind the material together, and is only good for compost. Grey cardboard, like in the tubes, is pretty far along the path from tree to dirt
Does that mean that other forms of grey cardboard, such as cereal boxes, should not be put in our recycling?
I read somewhere that it is about fiber length. The more times the fibers have been reprocessed, the shorter the fiber length gets, until it reaches a point where it is no longer long enough to effectively bind the material together, and is only good for compost. Grey cardboard, like in the tubes, is pretty far along the path from tree to dirt
Does that mean that other forms of grey cardboard, such as cereal boxes, should not be put in our recycling?
That's not what the directions say, so I would put them out with recycling
I read somewhere that it is about fiber length. The more times the fibers have been reprocessed, the shorter the fiber length gets, until it reaches a point where it is no longer long enough to effectively bind the material together, and is only good for compost. Grey cardboard, like in the tubes, is pretty far along the path from tree to dirt
Does that mean that other forms of grey cardboard, such as cereal boxes, should not be put in our recycling?
Cereal boxes are perfectly fine. It says as much. Interesting about the Paper towel/TP tubes. All my research says to recycle them but for places that separate paper from cardboard to place it with cardboard. I may have another chat with DPW not that I don't trust Elle Cee's reporting but that's just me.
And Joan, you of course are correct about your district. I had a talk that day with Kristen (?) at DPW and she agreed that the map is very strangely drawn and color coded and even the phrase about including all of Elmwood leads to confusion. She was going to bring it up with the designers, who did a very good job except for the ambiguity in the words and color coding for the border lines.
Edited to say that I didn't realize that Elle quoted from the Recycling Czar. I will still follow up though but perhaps it is the small amount of fiber like the Czar said that is the key.
All of my research indicated TP and PT rolls are recyclable. It is the heavy tubes that are not. I don't believe DPW fully understand the query when asked about it. See one example from one town in Colorado; everywhere else is the same. I plan to share this with DPW.
Paper towel and toilet paper tubes can be recycled in your curbside recycling bin or at drop-off locations listed below. Tubes should be empty, without any other materials still stuck to them.
I read somewhere that it is about fiber length. The more times the fibers have been reprocessed, the shorter the fiber length gets, until it reaches a point where it is no longer long enough to effectively bind the material together, and is only good for compost. Grey cardboard, like in the tubes, is pretty far along the path from tree to dirt
Thank you for the clarification, Max. Feeling a little less mystified now.
Edited to say that I didn't realize that Elle quoted from the Recycling Czar. I will still follow up though but perhaps it is the small amount of fiber like the Czar said that is the key.
All of my research indicated TP and PT rolls are recyclable. It is the heavy tubes that are not. I don't believe DPW fully understand the query when asked about it. See one example from one town in Colorado; everywhere else is the same. I plan to share this with DPW.
Paper towel and toilet paper tubes can be recycled in your curbside recycling bin or at drop-off locations listed below. Tubes should be empty, without any other materials still stuck to them.
the rules in different countries are confusing!! I’m very glad I don’t live there, I’d spin in circles. We’ve just had major scandals because our biggest soft-plastics recyclers (bread bags etc) were discovered to be warehousing instead of recycling, and the off-shore recyclers were dumping. Re the tubes: many of our shorter tubes (tp, paper towels etc) are made from bamboo fibres and need to be recycled in different lots together with wooden forks, knives, spoons. And a lot of our picnic goods (plates, cups etc) are made from sugar cane pulp, so that’s yet another set of sorting. we also have some papers made from rag fibres.
ETA: City Council supplies our bins, which are big OTTO-style. They won’t/can’t empty anything else because it won’t fit the mechanical arm that lifts and flips the bins. There’s usually only one worker per truck, the worker stays in the truck.
the rules in different countries are confusing!! I’m very glad I don’t live there, I’d spin in circles. We’ve just had major scandals because our biggest soft-plastics recyclers (bread bags etc) were discovered to be warehousing instead of recycling, and the off-shore recyclers were dumping. Re the tubes: many of our shorter tubes (tp, paper towels etc) are made from bamboo fibres and need to be recycled in different lots together with wooden forks, knives, spoons. And a lot of our picnic goods (plates, cups etc) are made from sugar cane pulp, so that’s yet another set of sorting. we also have some papers made from rag fibres.
ETA: City Council supplies our bins, which are big OTTO-style. They won’t/can’t empty anything else because it won’t fit the mechanical arm that lifts and flips the bins. There’s usually only one worker per truck, the worker stays in the truck.
Hate to be all "not tubey" on everyone, but I posed the question directly to Public Works, and yesterday, the answer came that paper towel and toilet paper tubes are not allowed according to the recycling czars because: "Paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes should not be included in the mixed paper. It is not because of their shape. There is very little fiber content to them." I find this conclusion utterly mystifying, but there you go. If you google recycling toilet paper tubes, you find a number of suggestions of "fun" things to do with them -- like make electrical cord organizers and, most interesting to me, recycling them in compost.
Elle I too contacted DPW and mentioned you reaching out and getting answer and just asked her to confirm that it was in fact these tubes in addition to the mailing ones. Here was her clear answer: "The person you’re referring to reached out to me directly and the response I gave her was actually a direct quote from the company/facility that will be receiving our recycling. Yes, they indicated that the inner tubes don’t have enough fiber on their own for them to be processed as recycling, so they should not be included in the bins."
And so it goes. Thanks Elle and I hope you didn't take offense that I wanted to confirm the exact language of the tubes in question.
Wendy, you are correct. Toilet paper and paper towel tubes are good, hard mailing tubes are not.
Where are you getting this info?
And around and around we go!
Nope. I've stopped going around. I received my answer (twice in fact) and will not recycle the TP and PT tubes. Too little fiber so says the company that will be collecting them.
Easy to do, considering the almost complete lack of info.
there has been plenty of info. Some of us just misinterpreted it.
Did you get your info directly from DPW as Wendy and Elle_Cee did? That was my question. You’ve been answering questions here and in Soma Lounge as if you’re an authority on this issue, but now it appears you’ve “misinterpreted” what you’ve read/heard. So going back to my question, where are you getting this info?
When I received certification from Rutgers as "Recycling Professional," it was clear that single stream produced higher volumes of cooperation than source separated.
Are there still state sanctions if the volume of tonnage decreases?
When I received certification from Rutgers as "Recycling Professional," it was clear that single stream produced higher volumes of cooperation than source separated.
Twenty-eight years later, cooperation from the hauler/recipient end appears to have waned.
Did you get your info directly from DPW as Wendy and Elle_Cee did? That was my question. You’ve been answering questions here and in Soma Lounge as if you’re an authority on this issue, but now it appears you’ve “misinterpreted” what you’ve read/heard. So going back to my question, where are you getting this info?
i have spoken several times to the folks who have worked hard to put this together. I recognized my error over the tubes. Every other answer I have given has been based directly off of the information that was sent to everyone. Some people are asking questions that are easily answerable by reading the brochure so I have answered, because the point is to help get this system rolling. Nothing is perfect and there will be hiccups. I am glad that the others got and shared better info than me. No need for air quotes.
Twenty-eight years later, cooperation from the hauler/recipient end appears to have waned.
True then, as is true now: recycling increases when there is financial benefit to the generator. If the generator gets paid for the recycled product, you get almost 100% compliance.
When you point out that the total refuse bill decreases if an item is recycled, there is more compliance. Example: The company I worked for, recycles bakery by-product.... stales, returns, dough on the floor, flour with maggots (not red hat kind). I was in sales and the conversation went, "Would you rather pay the garbage man $90 per ton or pay us $60 per ton?" I always got the sale.
So, what does that have to do with us? Our Waste Management bill is based on tonnage sent to Newark. I don't know what the tipping fee is. But we know that the tonnage fee is lower than Waste Mgt's. So the message is, non-compliance results in higher garbage bills.
the rules in different countries are confusing!! I’m very glad I don’t live there, I’d spin in circles. We’ve just had major scandals because our biggest soft-plastics recyclers (bread bags etc) were discovered to be warehousing instead of recycling, and the off-shore recyclers were dumping. 
Now that we can include tp and pt tubes I've moved on to wondering whether "clean Brown pizza boxes" include white or other printed colors on pizza boxes can be recycled.