People tend to produce more trash and recyclable waste during the holidays than any other time of the year – 25 percent more, on average.
But Rumpke Waste and Recycling wants you to know that not everything you want to get rid of belongs in your trash can or recycling bin.
Molly Yeager, the corporate communications manager of Rumpke, says people need to be very careful about what goes in their recycling bins.
"When you put things like food waste in your recycling bin, that can contaminate all the food waste,'' Yeager says. "Even putting the wrong kind of plastic in your recycling bin can prevent other plastic from being recycled because we have to meet strict contamination standards from our end-users."
Liquids, flammables and batteries should be left out of trash cans, Yeager says.
"You may occasionally hear about a trash truck catching fire,'' Yeager says. "That's often because someone put the item in their trash can, or in their recycling bin."
Things like batteries can cause fires in the truck, Yeager says.
Among the holiday items that should not go in recycling bins are Christmas lights (here's how you can dispose of them instead), extension cords, plastic bags, ribbons, tissue paper, metallic wrapping paper and Christmas trees and wreaths. Yeager says a list of what can be recycled and holiday collection times can be found at
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