Here’s how to make sure your recycling doesn’t end up in a Sacramento landfill
Recycling rules can be confusing — and vary from city to city — but properly assessing items before tossing them in blue recycle bins helps minimize what ends up in landfills.
The process starts the moment you drop an item in your bin. If items are not properly disposed, they can inadvertently add to landfill trash.
A reader asked The Bee’s service journalism team: What should we recycle and how much of it is processed?
Here’s what to know in the Sacramento area:
How much waste ends up in landfills?
It’s difficult to fully gauge how much of Sacramento’s recyclables end up in landfills. Both the county and cities each have their own processes.
Statewide, less than half of what we throw away gets recycled.
According to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, “In 2020, California produced 77.4 million tons of trash. Of that the state landfilled 40 million tons of material and recycled just 42 percent, or 32.5 million tons.”
On average, the county deals with roughly 3,000 tons of monthly potential recyclable product, said David Kuhnen, Recycling Industries general manager, and one of the processors for the county.
Conceptually, 25 to 30% of items at Recycling Industries end up in landfills, Kuhnen said. That means that more than half of the items that get sent to his facility get recycled.
That number, however, is only a reflection of half the items that get tossed in the county’s recycle bins unincorporated areas. City and county officials could not provide specifics on how much of the area’s overall waste makes it into the recycling process, as they subcontract much of their trash services.
“All the material that goes into the blue recycling bin gets diverted from the landfill for recycling unless it’s contaminated,” said Jesa David, a city spokeswoman said in an email to The Bee.
Contaminated items can include water spillage, items thrown out in plastic bags, food residue or a greasy pizza box.
Single-stream recycling, where all recyclables are placed into the same bin, has made recycling easier for consumers but results in about one-quarter of the material being contaminated by being placed in the wrong bin or getting soiled with food, according to a Columbia University Climate School 2020 report.
The “number one culprit in recycling is any plastic bag,” Kuhnen said. “Everybody thinks a plastic bag is recyclable — they’re not.”
Most processors don’t have the capacity to sort through a plastic bag and instead items end up in landfills.
Kuhnen uses a combination of hand sorting and mechanical sorting at Recycling Industries. The company pulls non-recyclable items out by hand, when they can, he said. That can be things like wood, electronic waste and even hoses.
What is recyclable?
Generally, the following items are accepted:
- Plastic bottles and containers (make sure they’re clean, dried and the cap is placed back on).
- Food and beverage cans
- Paper
- Flattened cardboard
- Glass bottles and jars
- Aluminum cans
Do not recycle Styrofoam, window glass, shredded paper, used tissue or light bulbs. For more dos and don’ts, visit your city’s recycling website.
Organic waste should be recycled separately, in your green waste or organics bin.
Below is a list, with links, to recycling rules for Sacramento County and its cities:
This story was originally published April 1, 2023 at 5:00 AM.