What Can You Recycle in the Treasure Valley? Recycling Dos and Don’ts for Idaho Residents

You know, I think most of us want to do the right thing when it comes to recycling. We toss something in the blue bin and feel pretty good about it. The problem is, sometimes we’re actually making things worse.

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The Biggest Idaho Recycling Mistake: Wish-Cycling

One of the biggest mistakes people make is what’s called “wish-cycling". That’s when you throw something in the recycling bin because you hope it’s recyclable.  Unfortunately, wish-cycling can contaminate entire loads of recyclable materials, making it harder and more expensive to process everything correctly.

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DON’T Put These Items in Your Treasure Valley Recycling Bin

Some items seem recyclable but actually cause problems during processing.

• Plastic Bags
• Styrofoam
• Greasy Pizza Boxes
• Electronics
• Garden Hoses
• Batteries
• Extension Cords

Even those disposable coffee cups often don’t belong in your curbside recycling.

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DO Recycle These Common Items

The good news is that a lot of common items do belong in the blue bin. Clean cardboard, paper, aluminum cans, steel food cans, and plastic bottles and jugs are usually good to go.

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What About Glass?

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Keep It Clean, Dry, and Empty

Here’s the easiest rule to remember: clean, dry, and empty. If that peanut butter jar still has half a sandwich worth of peanut butter stuck inside, give it a quick rinse first.

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Don’t Bag Your Recyclables

I know it sounds weird, but loose recyclables are much easier for sorting facilities to process. Plastic bags can become tangled in sorting machinery and slow down the recycling process. If you have plastic grocery bags, many local grocery stores offer separate collection bins specifically for those items.

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Small Changes Make a Big Difference

At the end of the day, recycling isn’t about being perfect. It’s about doing our part. A few extra seconds checking what goes in the bin can help keep thousands of pounds of material out of Idaho landfills every year.  And let’s face it, if we can figure out how to operate a smartphone, we can probably figure out which bin the peanut butter jar belongs in.