While the blue plastic bag has long been a part of the Pittsburgh recycling collection system, the city must stop packaging recyclables in plastic bags. The City of Pittsburgh is making a significant shift away from a bag-based collection program. Contaminants not only degrade the materials, boosting costs, but they can potentially cause harm to the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and city employees. Additionally, recycling contamination occurs when food residue, liquids, and unacceptable materials (such as batteries, sharps, extra plastic bags, food waste, and greasy pizza boxes), are placed into the recycling can. This happens when non-recyclable objects are placed in the recycling bin with the wish it will be recycled. One of the biggest challenges facing recycling right now is contamination by wishful recycling or “wish-cycling”. Recycling Contamination, and Why It Matters?
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