NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — Many of us recycle, but are we may not be doing it right. Chances are, some of the items you toss into the blue bin are not acceptable. When the wrong things end up in your recycling bin, it creates a huge problem.
Michael Benedetto, President of Tidewater Fibre Corporation (TFC Recycling) recently took 13News Now through the dos and don’ts of recycling. He covered the simple items that TFC Recycling's facility processes: paper, plastic bottles, and cans.
Qaren Jacklich lives in Norfolk and is an avid recycler.
“I’ll be honest, I’m a little bit of a recycle nut. So when I see recycle cans out on recycle day I take a little peek in there,” said Jacklich. “I’m constantly taking boxes apart, crushing boxes, cereal boxes, dumping out bottles that have last sips of soda, things like that.”
Jacklich volunteered to have TFC Recycling search through her bin, picking out what she’s doing right when it comes to recycling items and what she's doing wrong.
Benedetto dumped everything out of Jacklich’s recycling bin and found everything was nearly perfect. It was a surprise for Benedetto who said for most people that’s often not the case.
“I have actually seen people putting trash into recycle cans, and I’ve approached people and said, ‘You know that’s not recyclable.’ I’ve had people look at me like, ‘Crazy!’ But I poke around,” said Jacklich.
“I can see the long-term picture, and I think some people can’t. Some people just get it in their head that ‘In my lifetime, I’ll be able to get through this,’ and they’re not thinking about generations to come,” said Jacklich. “I wanna leave this place a better place than it is currently, if I can do anything to help.”
Recycling Guide by 13News Now on Scribd
There are several items people commonly think are recyclable, but they’re not.
“What I’d love to not see are plastic bags, and anything that’s not a plastic bottle,” said Benedetto. “So whether it be the yogurt cups, or whether it be the butter tubs or the clam shells, those are not part of this program, and they’re not acceptable items.”
Other items TFC Recycling does not accept are pizza boxes, paper plates, or automotive products. If the item is contaminated and can’t be poured down the drain, it’s a problem for TFC Recycling’s facility.
The recycling process is a non-stop cycle. When we visited TFC Recycling’s facility, a long line of trucks waited to dump all of the curbside collection for Hampton Roads.
Once delivered, the sorting process began. Items went through machinery, which removed the wrong items. Yard trimmings, computer monitors, and large plastic buckets were a few of the wrong items that end up at the facility. They can get stuck inside of the machinery and cause it to jam.
Nikolas Larum, the General Manager of Hauling for TFC Recycling, said there are a number of situations in which people get confused.
“Maybe they have a plastic bucket and they say, ‘Well, that’s plastic. I should recycle that!’ And they’re right, they should recycle it, but not in their curbside recycling,” Larum explained. “Their curbside recycling is for bottles, not buckets.”
Although a lot of wrong items end up at the facility, on the bright side, Larum said a lot of the right things end up there. Stuff that shouldn’t be recycled ends up at Wheelabrator, a waste energy plant in Portsmouth. Wheelabrator burns the trash, converting it to energy for Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The wrong recyclables also end up being dumped at one of many landfills throughout the U.S.
If you live in Norfolk and your residence does not have recycling service, there are two recycling drop-off facilities. Both sites are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They accept the same items for recycling that are accepted in the curbside collection program.
Center Locations:
Waste Management - 1176 Pineridge Road, Norfolk
Towing & Recovery - 1188-A Lance Road, Norfolk
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