Recycling can be a complicated business. What’s accepted for recycling in your curbside bin is determined by the demand from companies who make new products from your recycled “stuff.” Without an end market, everything in your recycling bin would end up in the trash. Luckily, there is a strong market for our many commonly used goods like plastics, glass, paper and metal.
It’s important to start with high quality recyclables in your recycling bin.
Recyclables are picked up at your curb or the drop-off shed and hauled to a processing facility. Depending on your waste hauler, that could be as close as Proctor, MN or as far away as Minneapolis.
Recycling processing facilities work diligently to find end markets for as many types of material as possible. They work directly with large and small manufacturers that use these materials to negotiate quantities, prices, and transportation logistics.
What drives those markets? You do!