With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s easy to forget to recycle. Many of us may simply throw everything in the trash without taking the time to separate cans, plastics, and other recyclable items. But recycling is an important action that has a lasting impact. 

At Sweitzer Waste Removal, we offer recycling services for both our residential and commercial customers.

The Importance of Recycling

Recycling is more than just throwing something away; it’s the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be trash and turning them into brand-new products. 

Why should we recycle?

Saves Our Natural Resources

Recycling directly reduces the need to extract raw materials, which is energy-intensive and can be environmentally destructive. By recycling paper, you can save trees and preserve the ecosystems that depend on them in the process.

Recycling metals, like aluminum, drastically reduces the need for energy-intensive mining operations. Also, keep in mind, manufacturing with recycled materials often requires significantly less water than processing new raw materials.

Fight Climate Change

When you recycle, you save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The industrial process for making products from scratch takes a lot of energy. Manufacturing goods from recycled materials requires far less energy, which translates to a smaller carbon footprint. 

Recycling also diverts waste from landfills. Landfills are a major source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By reducing landfill waste, you can reduce this contributing factor to global warming.

Saves Money

Recycling waste is much cheaper than regular waste collection and disposal. The more we recycle, the more money we can save. Besides recycling items in your weekly pickup, you can also recycle and receive deposit returns that will help add financial incentives to recycling.

Economic Benefits

Recycling can be a major economic boost. Collecting, sorting, processing, and manufacturing recycled products requires people to do the work. This helps to create jobs in the community.

Recycling can reduce the amount of waste that needs to be collected and sent to costly and crowded landfills. This can save municipalities and taxpayers money on waste management.

How Can You Make a Difference?

You can do your part by becoming familiar with your town’s recycling rules. Check your local municipality’s guidelines to know exactly what is accepted in your curbside bin. When you recycle, make sure containers and bottles are clean and dry before recycling them.

At Sweitzer Waste, here are the items that are allowed in recycling bins:

• Newspapers, Magazines, Catalogs
• Telephone/Soft Cover Books
• Junk Mail/Envelopes (all types)
• Paper (all colors, staples/paperclips are okay)
• Paperboard (cereal/shoe boxes)
• Milk/Juice Cartons
• Cardboard/Brown Paper Bags
• Plastic food & beverage containers marked #1-7
• Soda/Juice/Water Bottles (glass or plastic)
• Milk Jugs, Bleach/Detergent, Shampoo Bottles
• Food Containers (cottage cheese/margarine/yogurt)
• Glass Bottles/Jars (any color)
• Aluminum (pie plates/trays/foil)
• Metal Cans (tin/steel/Aluminum)
• Rigid plastic (laundry baskets/ buckets) No larger than 5 gal.
• Plastic flower pots

These are the items you should not include:

• Plastic bags
• Unmarked plastics
• Windows
• Light bulbs
• Dishes
• Foam packaging
• Aerosol cans
• Food Waste

Recycling is an easy way to practice responsibility and create a healthier, more sustainable world. Spread the word about recycling so that others will follow in your footsteps. Pay attention to what you put in your bin because small actions do make a difference!

Let Sweitzer Waste Handle Your Recycling Needs

Sweitzer Waste offers recycling services for both residential and commercial customers. Call us today at 203-245-8840 or contact us online for more information and learn how you can do your part to help the environment.