As we prioritize public health and personal protection, we are generating new kinds of waste. Rubber and latex gloves, paper face masks, and all wipes and paper towels with cleaner/disinfectant on them should always be placed in the trash.
Are you using more disinfecting wipes than usual or making your way through hand sanitizer at an unprecedented speed? We’ve updated the
Recyclopedia to answer your pressing questions on how to properly dispose of these items you may be using to protect yourself and your family during this difficult time. Here’s a quick guide:
- ❌ Face mask - Put this item in your trash bin.
- ✅ Hand sanitizer bottles - Put empty and rinsed bottle in the recycling. If there is a cap, replace the cap before putting in the recycling. If there is a pump, put pump in the trash.
- ❌ Sanitary wipes - Put this item in your trash bin. Remember: Never flush wipes. Even if they are labeled "flushable." Wipes clog up sewer and septic systems.
- ✅ Disinfectant Wipes Plastic Canister Put this item in your recycling bin. Flexible or box-shaped plastic wipe containers should go in the trash.
- ❌ Rubber gloves - Put this item in your trash bin.
- ❌ Plastic gloves - Put this item in your trash bin.
Did You Know? Not all paper products can be recycled.
Tissues,
Paper Towels, and
Paper Napkins should not go in the recycling bin. The fibers in these paper items are too short to be used again. Plus - we want to do everything to keep the folks sorting our recyclables healthy & safe! Please put these items in the trash.
This is a great opportunity to remind people in your household that all personal paper products (paper towels, tissues, wipes) must always be placed in the trash. We sometimes get paper towels, especially, in the curbside recycling, but this is a mistake and we need to reject that recycling. Personal paper products are designed to be soft and absorbent, so their paper fibers are short and break down in water. This short paper fiber is not desirable for re-manufacturers, plus we leave our germs on our personal paper products.
The Massachusetts Waster Resources Authority (MWRA) adds: It's a Toilet, Not a Trash Can!
"Even if they're small, even if the package says "flushable," some everyday items can cause messy and expensive problems for your plumbing and our sewer treatment facilities.
Products that might seem safe to flush down the toilet, such as personal care wipes, dental floss and paper towels, don't dissolve quickly – or at all – in water. If a scrap of undissolved material gets caught on a nick, bend or bump within a pipe, it can trigger a growth of buildup that could cause a sewer backup in your home or neighborhood.
Sewer agencies, environmentalists and consumer advocates are working with manufacturers to correct product labeling. In the meantime, please make sure to dispose of personal care products, cleaning supplies and other household waste properly: in the trash can, in the recycling bin or at your local household hazardous waste disposal site."
Read more at MWRA.com
