The Burning Question: Paper Towels

[LostInTransit]

I've been finding my self throwing away the paper towels in the trash. But once in a while I've caught myself throwing the paper towels in the recycle bin. But which one is better or should the paper towel be thrown in the trash or recycle bin? Once in a while in the shop and I do have shop towels I find myself grabbing a paper towel to wipe of grease, glue, paint and oil etc.. and end up throwing it in the recycle bin.. but is it trash or recyclable, even with oil etc on the towel.

 

[nomas]

99.9% sure that it doesn't get recycled . Especially if visibly contaminated .

 

[4WD]

99.9% sure that it doesn't get recycled . Especially if visibly contaminated .

I think that’s so - but they break down - just not as fast as TP …
My town only takes cardboard …

 

[Vil_Riker]

Recycling is a scam in most localities so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[nomas]

What Can and Cannot Be Recycled? | Glad

Learn what can and cannot be recycled and get a list of what you can recycle. Reduce trash with these recycling tips & improve your trash habits.

www.glad.com

 

[PimTac]

By throwing contaminated stuff like that in the recycle the waste company will reject the entire load. They don’t have the time or manpower to sort through all that.

 

[LostInTransit]

Done, in the trash can it goes. Thx

 

[Kira]

Thank you for asking questions with the ultimate goal of making a system work.

We have lots of garbage and recyclables to deal with. It really is better if we learn how to do things correctly.

The sooner systems like recycling work, the more we'll get out of them.

Yes, there will be growing pains. There always have been.

 

[Shel_B]

I've been finding my self throwing away the paper towels in the trash. But once in a while I've caught myself throwing the paper towels in the recycle bin. But which one is better or should the paper towel be thrown in the trash or recycle bin? Once in a while in the shop and I do have shop towels I find myself grabbing a paper towel to wipe of grease, glue, paint and oil etc.. and end up throwing it in the recycle bin.. but is it trash or recyclable, even with oil etc on the towel.

Here we put used paper towels that are contaminated with food and cooking grease into the compost bin, along with other food waste and such. Our community picks it up, composts it, and gives it back to the residents for use in their gardens.

Shop towels are different. They get put into hazardous waste at the recycling center.

 

[nomas]

Thank you for asking questions with the ultimate goal of making a system work.

We have lots of garbage and recyclables to deal with. It really is better if we learn how to do things correctly.

The sooner systems like recycling work, the more we'll get out of them.

Yes, there will be growing pains. There always have been.

I think the opposite effect is happening . Fewer items are being recycled because the demand is not there . The cost to recycle is not cheap and using new materials versus old , dirty , junk from the trash is easier . China used to purchase a lot of recyclable material from the U.S. but that has dwindled for some reason .

 

[Hall]

We recycle quite a bit - our recycle bin is typically filled to the top while our garbage can might have (2) bags in it. It never occurred to me to recycle (used) paper towels. Like others have said, they probably aren't recyclable if they're "dirty" anyway. Same reason they don't recycle pizza boxes.

 

[BHopkins]

By throwing contaminated stuff like that in the recycle the waste company will reject the entire load. They don’t have the time or manpower to sort through all that.

This has always been my understanding too. If you put contaminated/unrecyclable items in the recycle receptacle, it is extremely likely that not only your recycle items will be rejected, but everything surrounding it.

 

[LostInTransit]

hell, I'm from the deep south where we just burn our waste in metal barrels and they are still doing that today as there's no trash pick up in these areas.

 

[GSCJR]

It varies by region, check with your municipality.

 

[ArPix]

I've been finding my self throwing away the paper towels in the trash. But once in a while I've caught myself throwing the paper towels in the recycle bin. But which one is better or should the paper towel be thrown in the trash or recycle bin? Once in a while in the shop and I do have shop towels I find myself grabbing a paper towel to wipe of grease, glue, paint and oil etc.. and end up throwing it in the recycle bin.. but is it trash or recyclable, even with oil etc on the towel.

Why not ask your garbage company what to do? There are so many different locales where what is acceptable there it is impossible to know what you should do where you live. Not to mention so many different opinions on this forum.

 

[john_pifer]

Recycling is a scam in most localities so I wouldn't worry about it.

How So?

 

[Vil_Riker]

How So?

They used to ship it to China then when China stopped taking it they started shipping to Malaysia. Once they stopped taking it they either dump it together with the rest of the garbage or simply have stopped the recycling program.

It was a a scam to get Federal monies.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

How So?

You ever done any real research on recycling?

What do you think happens to all that crap you put in your little green bin that the nice garbage recycling people pick up? Where do you think it goes?

Recycling means you take a product that has been used and re-process it to another usable product. Re-processing, picking it up, sorting it, etc., takes labor, fuel, equipment, time, effort and a whole 'nother list of business items that cost money to end up with "another usable product".

That's right. This stuff costs money. Revenue needs to be extracted from the recycled product.

There is no market for used glass. There's not much market for used cereal boxes, mac-n-cheese boxes or laundry detergent bottles, either.

There's a market for aluminum and maybe some empty green bean cans.


I'll let you figure out where all the stuff goes that doesn't have a market value....

 

[Thermo1223]

You ever done any real research on recycling?

What do you think happens to all that crap you put in your little green bin that the nice garbage recycling people pick up? Where do you think it goes?

Recycling means you take a product that has been used and re-process it to another usable product. Re-processing, picking it up, sorting it, etc., takes labor, fuel, equipment, time, effort and a whole 'nother list of business items that cost money to end up with "another usable product".

That's right. This stuff costs money. Revenue needs to be extracted from the recycled product.

There is no market for used glass. There's not much market for used cereal boxes, mac-n-cheese boxes or laundry detergent bottles, either.

There's a market for aluminum and maybe some empty green bean cans.


I'll let you figure out where all the stuff goes that doesn't have a market value....

I already know this for our cardboard at work.

We used to not get charged weight on the dumpster & a flat fee. Well that stopped about 3 months back and now there is a weight charge and a larger fee. It is still cheaper than straight trash but I've been told that if they can't sell as used cardboard because of cost it gets dumped in the landfill. I can only imagine that applies for all recycling.