Have you ever wondered why you shouldn’t put your used napkins, paper towels and tissues in your recycling cart along with other paper products? The answer is quite simple. They aren’t accepted in recycling carts because they’re contaminated. Only clean paper products should go in your recycling cart.
Good Green Habits for Napkins, Paper Towels and Tissues
- Put used facial tissue, napkins and paper towels in your garbage cart―not in toilets or recycling and green waste carts.
- Place toilet tissue in toilets or garbage carts―toilet tissue cannot be recycled at this time.
IMPORTANT: You can place “food-soiled paper”―including napkins, paper towels and tissues―in your home compost bin since it is biodegradable. Or, if your city or garbage company offers a food recycling program, you may be able to place them in your green waste cart to be transferred to a composting facility.
I regularly place paper towels – sans any meat or animal fat residues – in my compost. They bread down faster than vegetable scraps and coffee filters.
I always wondered about this, and I’ve been doing it wrong. Makes me feel sorry for the folks who have to sort through the recyclables. This is definitely a lesson I needed to learn today. Thanks!