The holiday season produces 25 percent more solid waste than the rest of the year which might not have crossed one’s mind during prior years until 2018 when the country suddenly realized the solid waste and recycling crisis it was facing since the Chinese market closed its doors to American recyclables.
Now that Christmas is over and we are heading into another year of unknown certainty when it comes to recycling, it is critical that consumers and residents get a grasp on when to recycle your leftover holiday waste materials and when to throw it in the trash.
Patti Howard, the community outreach coordinator from Covanta Energy at SEMASS, wants residents to know what to do with the different categories of Christmas leftovers to keep the recycling process operating efficiently, and to keep your town’s trash or recycling from being turned away because too many people put too many of the wrong items into the wrong bins.
Let’s start with wrapping paper, which is likely your house’s top post-Christmas morning waste product. The blanket statement, Howard said, is not to recycle your wrapping paper. However, if you are serious about recycling the right way, you can take a closer look at your particular wrapping paper to see if perhaps some, or all of it, is eligible for recycling.
Certainly, if on the blank side of your wrapping paper you see the words “recyclable” anywhere on it, proceed to the recycling bin. Any bits smaller than 2 square inches, however, should go straight into the trash so the tiny papers don’t interfere with recycling processing equipment.
Wrapping paper that contains glitter, sequins, applied decorations that cannot be removed, velvety flocking, or shiny metallic sparkles should go in the trash. Not sure if your wrapping paper is recyclable? Try the “crumple test.”
If you can crumple a piece of wrapping paper into a ball and it retains its shape (and doesn’t contain any of the characteristics mentioned above), it may be recyclable. But if you are still unsure, the safest thing to do is to throw it away.
As Howard pointed out, often people prefer to burn their wrapping paper instead of throwing it in the trash, but she cautions residents to refrain from the practice of burning wrapping paper.
“Sometimes the wrapping paper can be treated with chemicals that shouldn’t be burned,” said Howard. But if throwing wrapping paper into the trash bothers you, Howard has another idea for you. Why not recycle it by reusing it?
And forget about recycling tissue paper. Tissue paper always goes in the trash bin.
Recycling is critical, but there are two equally important parts to the sustainability equation – reducing and reusing.
Some higher quality wrapping paper is harder to tear and crease and, if carefully opened, can be folded and tucked away for use next year. The same goes for your ribbon and bows, which would otherwise get tossed in the trash. Why not consider saving them for reuse, thus reducing your holiday waste in small ways that can really add up?
“Besides,” said Howard. “People could be spending less on what doesn’t matter, like wrapping paper and bows, and more on what does matter.”
Getting back to those ribbons and bows, Howard made it clear that, aside from reusing it, the trash is the only other place it belongs.
“Not in the recycle bin,” said Howard. “Gotta go in the trash.”
During the holidays, we send some 1.5 billion Christmas cards, the equivalent of 300,000 new trees being harvested. Like some wrapping paper, some Christmas cards can be recycled while some cards cannot. If it’s purely paper – no glitter, shiny paper, foil, plastic, metal, or velvet flocking – feel free to recycle it. Or, if possible, tear off any parts that contain non-recyclable materials and recycle the pure paper.
Still, those pretty foil and glittery ones don’t necessarily need to end up in the trash. One idea is to cut them up into smaller pieces and reuse them next year for gift tags, another way to accomplish Howard’s recommendation: spend less on what doesn’t matter.
Whether used to ship gifts to your house or to box up and wrap, cardboard boxes are one thing that can always be recycled. Break boxes down, flatten them, and keep them to a maximum of 2 square feet in size.
Gift bags (sans the tissue paper) might also be recyclable if they are purely paper with no plastic film or other of the decorative aforementioned recycling contaminates. Or, like most people, reuse them for next year.
Also non-recyclable, but by no means non-reusable, are disposable plastic cutlery, straws, and most plates and cups; however, check for a recycling symbol and rinse it off before tossing it into the recycle bin. Wax-coated paper plates are never reusable, even clean ones, and never throw soiled paper plates into the recycling bin – trash or compost only.
During the winter holidays is when Americans purchase 40 percent of all battery sales for the year. Never throw batteries into the trash. They can be stored and then returned to, for example, electronics stores or other venues that advertise accepting old batteries.
Polystyrene (Styrofoam) is not recyclable in your curbside bin in any of the three towns in the Tri-Town. Other items such as bubble wrap and packing peanuts should go in the trash.
Strands of holiday lights should never end up in the recycling bin. According to Howard, some stores welcome your old lights and might even offer a coupon towards a brand-new set of LED lights for next year.
Holiday decorations – even the plastic ones – do not belong in the recycling bin. Neither does your artificial tree or those old toys you want to get rid of to make way for the new ones. Better than throwing them away, why not donate them? It’s indeed true that one’s trash is another’s treasure, especially for those who cannot afford new decorations and toys every year. And with our current solid waste disposal conundrum, anything that doesn’t get thrown in the trash is better for all of us.
The human race has used more resources in the last 50 years than the rest of the human race has used throughout all human history. Perhaps as we enter the new year, we’ll consider a resolution to reduce, reuse, and recycle all we can.
By Jean Perry