12 Things You Shouldn't Recycle in the Hudson Valley

Don't put that pizza box in the recycling bin. It's among some of the items that many Hudson Valley homeowners think you can recycle, but sadly can't.

Friday, November 15 is National Recycling Day. The holiday was established to educate people on the importance of recycling. While many people already know that recycling is good for the environment, they may actually be putting the wrong things in their recycling bins.

Here are 12 items that most people think are recycled, but are usually just discarded into the trash at the transfer station.

Pizza Boxes
Sure, the cardboard is recyclable, but once it's soaked in pizza grease it's unable to be reused. For that reason, many recycling centers aren't able to use them.

Starbucks Paper Cups
Like many paper cups that hold hot beverages, those Starbucks cups have a plastic lining that needs to be separated from the plastic before recycling. Most centers don't have the time or equipment for this, so they are discarded into the trash.

Hangers
Whether metal or plastic, hangers aren't able to be recycled.

Shredded Paper
If you shred your bills and financial statements, don't throw them in the recycle bin. Most centers can't separate the thin strips of paper and they wind up clogging the system.

Plastic Bottle Caps
If you recycle those soda or water bottles, remove the cap first. Although the bottle is made of recycled plastic, many times the cap isn't.

Mirrors
Technically, they are glass. However, mirrors are also treated with other chemicals and coated with substances that are not recyclable.

Books
While softcover books and magazines are fully recyclable, Most recycling centers don't accept hardcover books. If you do want to recycle the pages, be sure to remove them from the binding first.

Pottery
You'd kind of think that pottery would be recyclable. It is mostly made from natural ingredients, after all. But it's not.

Drinking Glasses
Did you ever break a glass and then toss it in the recycle bin? Well, we hate to break it to you, that glass did not get recycled. Dishes and drinkware can be made from recycled glass, but the process used to make them stronger than disposable glass renders them unrecyclable.

Styrofoam
For some reason, many people think that you can recycle styrofoam. You just can't.

Construction Paper
Paper with heavy dyes can't be recycled. Poster boards, oak tag and other crafting papers are usually discarded by recycling centers

Plastic Utensils
Although they can be made from recyclable plastic, plastic forks spoons and knives aren't usually individually labeled, so you'd have no way of knowing if they're recyclable or not. But even if they are, the utensil's shape will usually jam up the sorting machines of most recycling plants. For this reason, they're usually just discarded instead of recycled.

Our list is compiled from information from various trash companies in the Hudson Valley and surrounding communities. Your service may or may not be able to recycle these or other items, so be sure to check with them before sorting your trash.

Recycling is important, but putting the wrong items in the recycle bin can contaminate the whole load. So be smart and just recycle the things accepted by your local garbage company.

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