Recycling in the GTA
A lot of the time we get questions from individuals such as “Why Recycle” or “Why Bothering going through the hassle”, but to be honest it is as important as ever in our history to start recycling properly if you never have. Recycling not only reduces waste in the landfills, but it also reduces the amount of natural resources we consume. Countries around the world are all making efforts to make recycling easier for the population. In Canada, we have seen tremendous steps, with our recycling and food waste bins. Once our population can start to separate their garbage, recycling and food waste properly we will see all appreciate the higher standard of living.
Why Recycle?
Recycling Saves Natural Resources (The Environment):
When you recycle, many used materials are used to be converted into a new product. Thus, reducing the need to consume the natural resources. If companies who are in production cannot get their needed materials from recycling plants, then they will extract more raw materials from the Earth. Recycling reduces the amount of extracting that is needed and required (Mining and Logging). Recycling assists with conserving the Earths’ raw materials and protects the natural habitat for species. While, if we put everything to garbage, it will start to pile up our landfills even more than it currently does.
Let’s look at some items at home you can recycle in the GTA:
We usually get a couple of calls a week here at Sol Recycling asking us the same general question when people are bringing in their recycled goods to see what they can recycle.
Here is a list of items that you can recycle in the GTA:
- Glass Bottles and Jars (Lids On)
- Rigid Plastics: Food Jars, Food Tubs (Lids on), Clear food containers (e.g. berries container), Disposable plates and cups, Beverage bottles (Lids on), Detergent bottles, soap bottles, shampoo bottles (Lids/sprayers on)
- Soft, Stretchy Plastics: Grocery Bags, Bread Bags, Milk Bags (outer bad and inner rinsed pouch), sandwich bags, diaper/feminie outer bags
- Metal: Aluminum/Steel Food Beverage Cans, Aluminum Trays, Burner Liners, Roasting Pans, Cookie Tins, Aerosol Cans, Paint Cans (empty, remove lids and recycle separately)
- Paper: Bags (without wax), advertising mail, fine paper, envelopes, newspapers, flyers, magazines, gift-wrap, tissue paper, soft/hard cover books
- Paper Containers: Cartons and Boxes (Straws from juice boxes are garbage), Spiral Wound Cans (e.g. Pringles container)
- Cardboard: Boxboard (e.g. cereal, tissue boxes), Corrugated cardboard (pizza boxes), rolls (from toilet paper, paper towel)
- Foam Polystyrene: Foam Packaged Containers (Eggs, plates, containers).
- Medical, Home Healthcare and PPE Waste: Needles and Syringes, disposables masks and gloves, soiled dressing, sponges, IV Bags and Tubing
- Plastic Packaging: Any items that are black (Including take out containers), bags and plant trays, Liner Bags (from cereal), Wrapping around pre-packaged foods, bubble wrap, toothpaste tubes, lotion tubes, toys, straws and clothes hangers
- Glass: Drinking glasses, dishes, cups, crystal, ceramics, pottery, window glass, light bulbs, mirrors, pots and pans
- Metal: Tools, scrap metal, auto parts, clothes hangers, pots, pans, small appliances (kettles, toaster), electronics
Textiles: Clothes, shoes, carpets, curtains and Bedding
As we can tell there are a lot of items in a home that can be put towards their recycling instead of garbage. For a lot of items, you have to put the cap separately from the bottle, because the melting point of the bottles and the cap are different from each other.
Let’s look at some other items you should not recycle:
Items not to Recycle:
A lot of you might be wondering why we had to list some of these items not to recycle, but to be honest it is not always an obvious answer at times. We here at Sol Recycling have been monitoring and managing client’s recycling for close to 10 years. If you have any questions about small recycling objects or large objects that you need to recycle, contact us and our team would love the opportunity to assist you.
Comments (0)