These Items Are Not Recyclable (But Are Often Thought To Be)

Beware of Simply Lumping all Paper, Aluminum, or Plastic Products Together

Paper and plastic.  Aluminum and tin.  Glass and cardboard.  All of these materials are, primarily, recyclable.  However, restrictions and limitations apply to some materials in the recycling bin that eventually could be rejected by recycling facilities.  Learn more about products that cannot be recycled below:

1) Plastic food wrappers: Any product that has leftover food particles attached can be rejected by recycling plants.  Food, leftover grease, and oil can interrupt the recycling process, so often those handling recycling are trained to treat those items as waste.

2) Aluminum foil: Similar to the scenario above, aluminum foil can often be stained or infused with food residue and thus impossible to recycle.  Think twice and inspect the foil before recycling.

3) Paper plates and paper napkins: Paper plates are fine to recycle as long as they do do not have any food residue.  Napkins can never be recycled, even when clean.

Learn more about recycling details on the Waste Management website.

Many of these facts are presented in the Waste Management article "What Can I Recycle?"

Grady Management was founded in 1965 and continues to provide a full service residential, commercial, and consulting real estate firm in the greater Washington and Baltimore metropolitan area.  Learn more from our website or Facebook page.