Do you scrub or scour your containers or packaging before recycling them?

I usually clean or rinse it off. Keep in mind that the smell would get worse and if keeping it in a bin best to clean it first.

We were told it is not necessary some time ago so I just do a quick rinse for the smell. I also was told by a friend that they do take to greasy pizza boxes out so I put them in the regular garbage. I would think where you live you want to keep the water usage to a minimum.

Generally I do a quick rinse, but will soak something in hot soapy water if it’s sticky.

Our county does the recycling here. Their directions specifically say no stained or greasy cardboard boxes.

We were told by the trash company that pizza boxes are discarded and not recycled.
I burn them in my wood burning stove and turn them into heat.

I rinse out containers and, where practical, put them in the dishwasher.

Edit re pizza boxes: They take them out of recycling so I put them in the regular garbage.

The grease soaked into the pizza box will destroy the recycling system.

Crumbs, on the other hand, can be rinsed out and the container recycled

When my town had traditional recycle You needed to clean out containers or they went to the trash. So, probably every peanut butter container ever put into recycle went into the dump, because who is actually completely cleaning that out?

For more than five years China has been rejecting a lot of the recycle they used to buy from the US so way way more is winding up in landfills in the US than you probably think. Depends on your city and how well they recycle their own materials.

My city changed about a year and a half ago to a Covanta plant, so we no longer separate anything. Yard waste, ALL trash, all together. Covanta incinerates everything, the energy created is sold to the power company, and the metals are separated and recycled. Here’s a link, see the video partway down the page. https://www.covanta.com/what-we-do/waste-to-energy

To answer your question, I gave cans a casual rinse.

We, of course, have staff for that!

@ucancallme_Al I am pretty sure we have met before.

Rinse cans, jars and bottles.

Plastic marked 1 through 7 okay to recycle

Pizza boxes straight to garbage.

No batteries or light bulbs including fluorescent

No window glass or drinking glasses

It’s UCME @JLeslie.

@JLeslie Well…virtually at least!

Why no window glass or drinking glasses @Willie?

Of course it’s me, she knows that you loon :D
No one secreting themselves here!

@Dutchess_III

Chemicals that are added to them. https://recyclenation.com/2014/09/how-recyclable-glass-items/

Obviously it’s UCME. LOL.

I rinse every container, using some elbow grease if needed. I don’t want my recycling bin to reek of spoiling garbage.

Here is an article. from a few years ago that has some good information about recycling and where the items wind up.

I recommend you contact your recycle plant directly or look online for their specifics on what you need to do to make sure you items get recycled. We had a brochure, both paper or you could see the pdf online, that said exactly what they accepted in recycle. I honestly recycled what was easy and I felt sure would be recycled, and the res I put into my trash. I figured them having to sort through dirty containers only made their process more labor intensive.

When I had recycle they also were willing to give presentations to our community. They would set up a meeting in a rec center that anyone could attend. Then word of mouth after that helped to tell neighbors what needs to be done.

@Love_my_doggie I clean them for the same reason. Garbage pick up is once per week. I don’t want any mess attracting animals unwanted critters. Yuk. My recycle bin is always clean!
Also clean product is better for the recyclers.

Anything with grease stains, like a pizza box, cannot be recycled and must be discarded to the landfill.
Only plastic bottles that have screw on lids, did not contain poisonous substances, and are marked with a “1” or a “2” can be recycled here. I rinse these.
No mention is made about pie tins, so I would call my trash people. Aluminum and steel cans and foil are OK.

Thanks @Tropical_Willie. I did not know that.

I don’t use my dishwasher. I wash the old-fashioned way in the sink. So I just wash the containers in soapy water but I don’t rinse. I’m in California so I try to conserve water when I can.

Though I may be a gorilla, I’m not.a beast. Of course I clean my stuff before recycling.

I’m intimately acquainted with recycling protocols. The recycle center sends the sorted plastic, paper and carboard, metal and glass to different companies that use it to make new and useful items. They really need their donations to be clean for several reasons.

First, that’s what the folks who accept recycled raw materials demand. They require their raw material to be free from food, dirt, etc. Otherwise they can’t make it into new and useful stuff.

Second, food residue grows mold and attracts bugs, and other vermin, besides smelling ghastly. Again, these companies that accept the raw material can’t use contaminated product.

If you think about it, the idea of recycling “clean” plastic, carboard, paper and metal should be obvious, but it doesn’t seem to get through to many people in my country. The Japanese have very specific standards for recycling, and they enforce it.

Yes – Grease and some other residues make cardboard & other paper products un-recyclable.

No – I don’t rinse every container.

Always a rebel.

You can’t recycle butter tubs.

I’ll shake off crumbs if possible, but rinse nothing. The wife will snatch things from the kitchen container designated for recycling, rinsing the bottles and aluminum trays, pie pans, etc. I don’t begrudge her her hobbies.

I give em a lick and a promise.

that was inappropriate. Sorry.

We’re on her side. Sorry!

Here if they are too dirty, or at least not rinsed out, they go to the landfill. If it’s that dirty and dried with a lot of work, I might not. Otherwise yes, I do my part.