Recycling “Beyond the Bin”

Stop me if you have heard this one before — “I don’t recycle because it ends up in the landfill anyway.” I have heard this a lot during my more than 10 years at the Extension working as an agent focused on waste reduction. While there is a slight truth to this — items put into our curbside recycling carts that can’t be recycled do end up in the landfill — we do a great job of recycling overall in Sarasota County, especially when items are sorted correctly. For the past couple of years, our recycling rate has been around 50%, meaning half of the items we throw away go to the landfill, the other half goes to a recycling facility.

We all tend to know the items that should go in our single-stream recycling carts in Sarasota County. Think paper, cardboard, cans (aluminum, metal), glass, and plastics. Plastics are the most confused items placed in our carts, and they tend to cause the major issues at the recycling facilities. Plastic bags, films, and styrofoam are all items that can be recycled — just not in our curbside bins.

“Beyond the Bin” is a new, open-discussion series of classes focused on recycling options beyond what goes in our curbside bins. The UF/IFAS Beyond the Bin series looks at these unique “hidden” recyclables and teaches attendees how to handle common “hard-to-recycle” items. Examples of these materials include plastic films, printer ink cartridges, electronics, batteries, lightbulbs, and more. Many of the items we dispose of can be recycled; however, they often need to be taken to another location and require us to go beyond the bin at our homes.

This series of classes will teach residents how and where to take these items.

Offerings: This is part of a series of live classes, tours, and webinars on recycling.