Reduce, reuse, and recycle—that’s how we cut down waste and save our precious planet!
But let’s be honest: while reducing and reusing might be easy, recycling isn’t always so straightforward. The first struggle is knowing what belongs in the recycling bin.
Surprisingly, many household items can’t be recycled. And if you make a mistake while sorting out your waste, you could be doing more harm.
Want to improve your waste-sorting skills? Keep reading for surprising things that can’t be recycled and what you can do with them instead.
Styrofoam
Styrofoam is used in many products we use every day, such as packing foam, cartons for eggs, fast food plates, and cups.
The first problem with Styrofoam is that it’s nearly 95% air.
So while that’s great for keeping your parcels nice and safe, it occupies far more space than it’s worth when it comes to transporting it anywhere.
The second and most serious issue with Styrofoam is its porosity. Since it’s used extensively in the food industry, it absorbs whatever it comes in contact with and is difficult to clean.
Finally, the recycling process is complicated and labor intensive, with little financial reward. So, you won’t find many recycling facilities that accept styrofoam.
What you can do instead is send styrofoam packaging peanuts to nearby companies that accept donations. As for Styrofoam food containers, it’s better to avoid using them altogether.
Toothpaste tubes
Traditional toothpaste tubes aren’t just made of plastic. Instead, they often have multiple layers of different materials, which helps keep toothpaste fresh for brushing your teeth.
However, this design also makes recycling difficult, as separating the layers is too labor intensive.
Since recycling these tubes isn’t always possible, most of the 1.5 billion toothpaste tubes used each year end up in landfills or the ocean.
At last, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Many big toothpaste brands are switching to recyclable tubes made from HDPE, one of the most recyclable plastics.
Next time you pick up a tube, check to see if you can recycle it!
Children’s toys
Sadly, most kids’ toys outlive their owners by centuries, wasting away in long-forgotten landfills.
Most are made of hard plastic, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polypropylene (PP)—plastics tough enough to survive the kind of destruction only kids can unleash.
The downside? These plastics often contain additives and chemical treatments that complicate the recycling process, making them difficult to break down or reuse.
Then there are the complex toys made from a mix of materials—wood, wiring, metal, and multiple types of plastic like polycarbonate or PVC—that are nearly impossible to separate for proper recycling.
Since used kids’ toys can’t go in your curbside recycling bin, consider upcycling them, passing them down, or donating them instead.
Pyrex glass
The deal with Pyrex glass is that it has been specially treated to resist high temperatures. This is why it makes excellent cookware, but that can be a problem during recycling.
At temperatures that would melt regular glass, Pyrex glass would still hold up.
If you have broken or chipped Pyrex glassware, sadly, you can’t throw it in the recycle bin, and it will have to go in the trash.
Be sure to wrap the broken pieces in newspaper to protect workers handling your waste.
Paper shopping receipts
Every time you visit the store, you get one of those thermal-printed receipts. And sure enough, they begin to pile up. However, unlike regular printed paper, these receipts can’t be recycled.
Shopping receipts are typically printed on paper coated with bisphenol-A (or bisphenol S), a toxic chemical that makes recycling difficult.
You can’t even compost these receipts, as these toxic chemicals can leach into the soil. They’re also pretty useless as they fade so fast!
You can decline shopping receipts if you don’t need them, or better yet, request an electronic receipt.
Soft plastic packaging and plastic bags
Thin grocery bags and soft plastic packaging like cereal liners, bread bags, and even cookie wrappers should not go in your recycling bin.
The first issue is that they’re just too thin, and most recycling facilities don’t have the appropriate equipment to handle them.
If these plastic bags get in by accident, they can get caught and tangled in the machinery. That alone can halt the entire process or even damage the equipment.
If you want to handle this waste appropriately, ask your grocery store. They sometimes partner with special recycling facilities and will gladly take the bags from you.
Otherwise, you can always use your grocery bags as trash bags or instead of new bags at the store.
Juice boxes and milk cartons
Juice boxes are made from a mixture of materials, such as paper, plastic, and an inner aluminum coating.
As with most things made with multiple layers of different materials, they can be challenging to recycle. You see, it’s not totally impossible to recycle these juice boxes.
A special technique called hydrapulping can separate the paper from other components, but most recycling facilities don’t have the machinery required to carry out this process.
Basically, unless your local recycling facility specifies that it can process juice boxes, it’s better to play it safe and leave them out of the recycling bin.
Clothes hangers
Most plastic cloth hangers don’t contain just one type of plastic but a mixture of different materials, making recycling them difficult or nearly impossible.
And if you think wooden hangers are better, they’re not! Often, wooden hangers are treated with varnish and other chemicals that make them unrecyclable.
Wire, you ask?
Nope! It can get tangled up in the machinery. Sadly, you’re better off donating unwanted hangers to your local charity store.
Mirrors
Mirrors have a reflective back coat that is difficult to remove, making recycling impossible. Even if you miraculously remove the reflective coating, you still can’t recycle it with other glass bottles.
It’s a similar case to Pyrex, as the glass used in making mirrors is also treated for higher temperatures.
The good news is that if you’re simply parting ways with a mirror, plenty of people will be happy to take it off your hands.
And if you broke a mirror, we’re afraid we only have bad news for you; not only are you cursed with bad luck, but you’ll also need to carefully pack the pieces and throw them out with your regular garbage
Pizza boxes
You might be thinking, how could pizza boxes not be recyclable? They’re made from paper, right?
Recycling these pizza containers is a little tricky because they can technically be recycled. But, these boxes are often contaminated with grease and food remnants.
So, the paper fibers can’t be fully separated from the oil in oil-stained pizza boxes.
Some recycling centers will accept pizza boxes with oil stains, but you have to remove all the scraps of pizza from them first.
If your pizza box is too messy to go in the recycle bin, you can still cut the clean top of the box off and send it for recycling.
Even when we try our hardest, some things we use daily just can’t be recycled.
That doesn’t mean they have to end up in a landfill, at least not before getting a second use. You still have two powerful options: reduce and reuse.
Start by reducing your use of nonrecyclables or opting for pre-owned items whenever possible.
And when you’re done using them, consider repurposing or passing them on to others.
