Tee Cee's Tip for Monday, Nov. 1, 2021
Nov. 1—Dear Tee Cee,
I know that metal is important to recycle, but I'm confused about when it can and can't go into my regular recycling bin at the curb. I looked on the Eco-Cycle website and it says, "The only metals that are recyclable in curbside recycling bins are aluminum and steel cans. OTHER METAL CANNOT GO IN YOUR CURBSIDE RECYCLING BIN and must be dropped off at a local recycling center." My question is, what about metal jar lids (like on a mayo jar), and why are some metals recyclable in my curbside bin, and some have to be brought to the Longmont Diversion Center?
Serena
Hi Serena,
Good question. Netal is metal — if it's all recyclable, why can't it all go in the same bin? There are a few things to know about metals in the recycling.
You're correct, metal is great to recycle — it has high value and is infinitely recyclable. Materials like aluminum and steel not only save precious natural resources, but their financial value also helps offset materials that are not so valuable in the recycling (like plastics).
That being said, the recyclability of a material depends on two things: whether there's a market to buy it and turn it into something new, and whether the local facilities have the infrastructure to collect, transport and sort that material for market.
For metal, we have a market, but the issue is how different pieces of metal pass through sorting equipment at recycling processing facilities.
Recycling facilities are designed to process paper and food and beverage containers. Objects like aluminum and steel cans are separated from other materials with equipment specifically designed for that product and its shape.
But a piece of scrap metal isn't consistently shaped the way a can is — it's sharp and bulky and therefore destructive to equipment in the facility. Pieces of sharp metal will tear up conveyor belts and pose a safety hazard to the folks who do hands-on sorting. Even something like a coat hanger will tangle up the moving gears and wheels. Something like a metal file cabinet, as you can imagine, is much too bulky to travel through our sorting system. That's why we ask that scrap metal be taken to the Longmont Waste Diversion Center at 140 Martin St., or to the Eco-Cycle Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM) at 6400 Arapahoe Ave. in Boulder. Scrap metal received at drop-off centers doesn't have to be processed by sorting equipment; they can be shipped directly to market.
Metal jar lids can go in your recycling bin at the curb. Please be sure to separate them from the jars or containers they came on since they are made of two different materials. Other metals that can be recycled in your single-stream curbside recycling cart include clean and empty aluminum trays (like a burrito bowl would sometimes come in), and clean aluminum foil in a ball that's at least 2 inches in diameter.
Tee Cee
Have Zero Waste questions? Rosie@ecocycle.org has the answers.
