Sacramento’s Waste Rules are Changing

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): A pamphlet from the city’s Recycling and Solid Waste division arrived on many Sacramentans’ doorstops July 1, heralding updates to recycling rules in the city. Perhaps most significant is the change in the policy for recycling plastic.

Almost all plastic items are labeled with a small number, between 1 and 7, housed inside a recycling-logo triangle. Previously, all plastics items were deemed recyclable in Sacramento, whichever number they were labeled. Now, only plastics with Codes 1-3 are allowed in the recycling bin, said Erin Treadwell, Community Oureach and Media Manager for the Solid Waste and Recycling Division. Also outlawed are shredded paper (whether bound in bags or not) and plastic foam.

Sacramento County’s Department of Waste Management and Recycling doesn’t explicitly discriminate on the basis of Code Number and accepts most plastic bottles and containers in its curbside collection carts, said Brenda Bongiorno, communications and media officer for Sacramento County.

But the county’s policies have also been changing. As of about a month ago, Bongiorno said, plastic bags are no longer accepted by the recycling processor facilities with which the county contracts. That means items in recycling and green waste carts should never be bagged. Newly restricted plastics tend to not be worth much in the recycling market, which makes them that much more unappealing.

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantage.com