Farewell to the Recycle Symbol
The PBS/Frontline exposé Plastic Wars focuses on the dubious origin of the recycle symbol.
Recycling provides direct, tangible benefits to the community and the environment. The business of recycling creates jobs, spurs investment and sparks innovation. Environmentally, it conserves natural resources, saves energy and reduces pollution. The EPA estimates that 75% of our waste is recyclable — 75%! That’s a lot of power to do good, right in your hands, just by choosing the right bin and occasionally thinking outside the bin.
Recycling properly is the key to maximizing its benefit. Understanding what can be recycled keeps the materials stream clean and marketable. There may be items in the “NO” section of our guidelines that have a recycling symbol or that you are able to recycle in other cities.
Each recycling center is unique, using different equipment and processing lines, which can create differences between items that can be recycled in each community. Recycling that is either contaminated with trash or mixed with different types of recyclable material will either be trashed or sold as a much lower-value material to recycling companies.
Absolutely not! Our customers (that means YOU!) have proven to be savvy and conscientious recyclers, enabling the Boulder County Recycling Center to produce clean, marketable material with low contamination rates. Recycling is alive and well in our area so keep at it!
The first step is to flatten your cardboard boxes to maximize your cart space. If you still have extra material you may set it beside your cart in a cardboard box. Please do not leave loose recyclable material outside your cart.
Although these cups are made of paper, they are lined with plastic to help prevent leakage. This plastic lining prevents it from being recyclable and they must be placed in the trash.
These cups get crushed in the truck on their way to the recycling center. Once crushed they can’t be sorted and wind up as contamination.
Electronics such as computers, radios, DVD players, TVs, VCRs, chargers, and video game consoles, were banned from going to the landfill in Colorado in 2013. These items are accepted for a fee that the CHarM Center located at 6400 Arapahoe.
Anyone who lives in Boulder or Broomfield Counties or the Town of Erie can bring their materials, free of charge, to the Boulder County Household Materials Management facility. This includes paint, oil, solvents, cleaners, rechargeable batteries, etc. For information and a full list of materials accepted, call their hotline at 720-564-2251 or visit their website.
There are many random items out there that you may be unsure as to whether or not they can be recycled. Use the Waste Wizard tool on our site to determine what goes where.
Single-stream recycling picked up by Western from your home or business is taken to the Boulder County Recycling Center (BCRC), where it is separated, baled and sent to market for recycling. The BCRC sets guidelines for what can be recycled based upon their sorting equipment and material market conditions.
The Boulder County Recycling Center (BCRC) processes and markets the single-stream recycling collected in Boulder County. The BCRC has a national reputation for producing consistently clean, high-quality materials largely because local residents and businesses have long been savvy and conscientious recyclers.
The PBS/Frontline exposé Plastic Wars focuses on the dubious origin of the recycle symbol.
“Old rags, any old rags!” was a call heard on many city streets from the late nineteenth century into the 1960s, as the rag man rumbled by collecting textiles from households. In fact, textile recycling can be traced all the way back to the Napoleonic wars (1803-1815) when virgin wool shortages resulted in the requirement…
As a result of the ongoing pandemic, take-out food has become a lifeline; both for those of us hungry for something other than our own cooking, and for the local restaurants depending on us to help them through this unprecedented time. But when it comes to waste sorting, take-out containers have added a whole new…
Many types of packaging used for bathroom products are recyclable, but as a recycling opportunity the bathroom is frequently overlooked. Follow these simple guidlelines for recycling right in the bathroom. A dedicated container in the area adds convenience and makes recycling more practical. Add a small bin under the sink for recyclables. Labels do not…
What do equipment downtime, excessive maintenance, added labor costs and reduced commodity values all have in common? They all can result from contamination in the recycling stream. Follow these simple rules to keep the recycling stream clean and the Boulder County Recycling Center operating efficiently: 1. NO LOOSE PLASTIC BAGS AND NO MATERIAL IN PLASTIC…
Virtually all of us at one time or another have enjoyed the convenience and ease of online shopping to purchase everything from toothpaste to mattresses. With companies such as Amazon, Instacart, Blue Apron, in addition to the online options from traditional retailers, Americans spent over $500 billion in online purchases in 2018. However, this convenience…
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw away more than three billion (approximately 180,000 tons) of batteries annually. The vast majority of those landfilled are alkaline. The soup of harmful substances contained in alkaline batteries (which include toxic heavy metals and corrosive acids) are sealed in the manufacturing process, and consumers do not come…
Where is your stash — In a closet? On a garage shelf? Down in the basement? Most of us have an area in the house where outdated electronics accumulate. When you decide to clear the clutter, be sure to do so responsibly. In 2013, the state of Colorado passed the Electronic Recycling Jobs Act prohibiting…
Plastic bags are one of the most pernicious, problematic materials for recycling facilities. They cannot be sorted mechanically and as a result they roll along the sorting lines getting tangled up in the screens, jamming the machinery and costing time and money to extract.
You’ve got the basics down, now it’s time to up your game. Take the “pulp fiction” quiz below to see how well you know the Boulder County Recycling Center’s paper recycling guidelines. Fact or fiction – the following papers are recyclable: Copy or printer paper-ream wrappers Hanging and file folders Construction paper and tissue paper…
Summer is here! For many of us, summertime means camping at one of the countless magical spots here in Colorado. For others, this is the time to finally get some projects done around the house while also keeping that yard looking good. However, did you know that both activities create a unique waste item that must…
The CHaRM facility is your partner in going the last mile in responsibly managing your waste. They accept electronics, block foam, ceramic fixtures, fire extinguishers, plastic bags and much, much more. The only “hard” part about keeping many materials out of the landfill is the last bit of effort it takes to load it in your car and take it to this unique facility. Learn more about CHaRM.
Household hazardous wastes can include cleaning and home maintenance products, yard and garden chemicals, motor oil, antifreeze, paints, stains, batteries and fluorescent bulbs. If a product label includes terms such as toxic, corrosive, poison, flammable, caution, etc., be mindful about proper disposal. The Boulder County Hazardous Materials Management Facility accepts a wide spectrum of these wastes and is free for residents of Boulder and Broomfield counties. While you’re there, check out their Free Reusable Products Shop, which includes a wide assortment of paints, stains and gardening fertilizers. Learn more about Hazardous Materials Management Facility.
Resource Central supports all levels of conservation, including reusing and recycling reclaimed materials. At the 6400 Arapahoe location, previously known as ReSource Boulder and Resource 2000, Resource Central resells a variety of donated items such as lumber, cabinetry, old doors, windows, and even tubs & sinks — similar to a salvage yard. Learn more about Resource Central.
Art Parts is a nonprofit creative reuse center in Boulder. They accept donated, reusable industry surplus and creative materials from businesses and individuals to resell at a discount to the public. Their mission is to inspire and promote creativity, resource conservation and community engagement through reuse. Learn more about Art Parts.
Improved creativity, emotional release, sharpened focus, greater productivity, lower stress — these are some of the many benefits documented by experts who advocate dealing with our clutter. So let’s say you’ve committed to your psychological cleansing by getting rid of the “noise” of your stuff. Here’s what to do with it.
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