COMMON Q&A's
Q: Can plastic bottle caps be recycled?
A: Yes, loosely return the cap to the empty plastic bottle and place in the commingled recycle bin. Caps that are left off the bottle often become litter around the recycle bins and are lost on the recycling line due to the small size.
Q: Why can't I put all my plastic household items in the recycle bin if they have the correct number in the recycle symbol?
A: Although many plastic items share the same plastic ID number, they do not have the same properties and cannot be recycled together. They may require different temperatures for melting and forming.
Example: a #1 PET bottle melts at a different temperature than the #1 PET strawberry container. Yes the #1 plastic bottle can be recycled locally but the #1 strawberry container cannot. So, plastic BOTTLES, JUGS, JARS with numbers 1, 2, or 3 only please.
Q: Where can I recycle household batteries?
A: You can dispose of them in your regular garbage since they are no longer Hazardous, but we still accept them at our Household Hazardous Waste Collection held annually. Due to fire and health stafety shipping concerns we no longer accept them at our offices or other drop off locations.
Q: Can we recycle Little Tykes outside play toys/houses?
A: No, the Little Tykes Toys cannot be recycled in our program. The company that receives our commingled materials will only accept plastic jar and jugs; these plastics must be no larger than a gallon jug.
Q: Are you taking tires, mattresses, or box springs at the Community Clean-up Collections?
A: No mattresses or box springs at our collections. You can take those to the Apex Transfer Station, 53002 High Ridge Rd./C-214. There is a cost for mattress/box springs; you can reach Apex @ 740-695-9915.
Q: I noticed that is says plastics #1-3 are acceptable for recycling on the website, but some of the drop-off bins say plastics #1-5 , is it still okay to bring #1-5, or only #'s 1-3?
A: The acceptable plastic materials list has and does change depending on the market, and was greatly influenced in recent years with the changes in overseas market. So the types of plastics we accept has to change with it, there is no way to always refelct those changes on our bin labels (as we have hundreds of them). What is and isn't acceptable can be confusing so we have decided to try to streamline our acceptable materials list to help reduce the amount of unwanted plastics. Plastic numbers 1 - 3, which are in forms of BOTTLES & JUGS, are the most acceptable, and easiest to identify by our residents, so that is what we are accepting these days. We hope this reduces the garbage that our staff has to try to remove before the materials are shipped to the processor. Our website will always have the latest information.
Q: We are patronizing local restaurants, can we recycle the To Go plastic soup containers and plastic containers for food from the restaurants?
A: No, we are only able to accept plastic BOTTLES, JARS AND JUGS for recycling. If the soup container is a #1 or #2 plastic tub type it may be recyclable, but plastic clam shells, trays and wrap are not recyclable no matter the plastic ID, as they are still a differant grade of plastic.
Q: Are the metal lids from glass food jars recyclable?
A: Yes, a metal lids on glass food jars are usually recyclable. What makes recycling tricky is the need to have both ... companies wanting to recycle materias, plus other companies wanting to buy that material for inclusion in new goods. The biggest issue in recycling right now are plastics; never any plastic bags or packaging materials - only plastic BOTTLES, JUGS AND JARS (lids are okay but should now be left on the container). No other plastics are currently recyclable locally no matter the symbol #. For glass - please only food and beverage glass BOTTLES & JARS are recyclable; no other glass items. Metal lids and glass bottles/jars are okay and should be on the bottle or jar. For metal, again only food and beverage containers plus the addition of clean aluminum pans are acceptable for recycling.
Q: Do you take swimming pool covers? solar covers?
A: No other plastics besides BOTTLES, JARS & JUGS with #'s 1, 2 or 3 ever.
Q: Can I recycle plastic tubing or plastic pipes in your bins?
A: Nope, nothing plastic other than BOTTLES, JARS and JUGS.
For more answers to your question, go to our "Recycling" Page or our "What Can I do with Guide" link found at the bottom of every page on our website, including this one! see below.
A good rule to remember... "when in doubt, throw it out" in the garbage. garbage mixed in with recyclables is a cost issue, and puts programs at risk. A clean recycling stream is our goal.