I have recently been seeing some lists of things to not try to recycle, for various reasons — most, but not all of them obvious. There are also, as always, different schools of thought on some of the items. Here’s what I know about it today, and a quick look at our alternatives.
Anything flammable or explosive should be obvious. That’s one of the EPA definitions of hazardous waste, and cannot be recycled, although much household hazardous waste can be delivered to Public Works on Hazardous Waste Collection days. Brunswick’s Public Works has a day this year on April 30 for Brunswick only, and you need to call about a month ahead for an appointment. The town website, under Public Works, has a flyer on it with complete information.
Styrofoam, even if it’s marked as #6 plastic, is not recyclable locally. We have to trash it, but we do much better to not use it all and try to avoid products or manufacturers who pack with it. This is an area in which our new Producer Responsibility law should help a great deal.
Shredded paper will not sort correctly in the recycling machines, so cannot be put into our recycling containers. Instead, it can be composted. It will even compost in a backyard bin, although it takes longer there than in a commercial operation like Garbage to Garden. The folks who service the totes at the leaf drop on Industry Road, however, do not accept it for their processing system. If you don’t use G2G, and have no access to backyard composting, you will have to put it in the trash.
Unused or outdated medications are considered hazardous. The best way to deal with those is to put them into the container maintained by the police department in Brunswick (and many other towns) for that purpose. It’s like a mailbox, and there are no forms or questions involved. The box is in the outer vestibule, and you just walk in and leave the meds off. You can leave the labels on the bottles or not, as you wish. No needles or other medical waste is accepted there. You can also watch for the regularly scheduled Used Meds Collection Day held by the police and sheriff’s departments about once a quarter. For those, you just drive up and toss the stuff into a large box.
Medical waste is sometimes generated when people need insulin injections or the like, and medical waste is hazardous waste. The folks at Midcoast Hospital suggested several things. “Sharps,” as the needles and lancets, etc. are called, are best if the tips are removed with a special clipper. The ends, or the entire unit should be placed in a rigid, leak-proof, and puncture-resistant container, like a used detergent bottle, sealed, and clearly marked with “DO NOT RECYCLE: HOUSEHOLD SHARPS” on a piece of masking tape, then the container is sealed with heavy duty duct tape and put into the trash, not the recycling. Plastic bags, milk cartons, and clear soda bottles are not adequate for this purpose. See the Maine DEP, or ecomaine’s “Recyclopedia” for more information.
Plastic bags and films can go to the grocery store or to some box stores. Target, for example, has a bin for plastic films.
Food waste never goes into a recycle bin in any form. It must be either composted (the preferred solution) using either a backyard composter, the totes at the leaf drop on Industry Road (and soon in East Brunswick), or the Garbage to Garden service. Cardboard cartons with small grease stains can still be recycled because the paper mills can handle very small amounts when the paper is reprocessed, but no visible food can be stuck to the cardboard. If it is, we need to tear out the contaminated parts for the trash, and just recycle the clean portions of the cardboard.
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. This column is a product of his own research.
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