If you’re taking the time to read this section of the magazine, you undoubtedly are the kind of person who takes pains to separate your recyclables from your trash. You rinse and sort. You fold and bag. And you probably feel pretty good about it afterwards. But sometimes you get a nagging feeling that you aren’t doing things right. “Should I be recycling that pizza box?” you ask yourself. “What about those No. 5 yogurt containers?”

Even with the best of intentions, conflicting information, half-remembered school lessons, and varying local standards can make recycling complicated. With the help of the Eau Claire County Recycling Program, we’ve prepared this brief guide as a refresher course in what can – and cannot – be recycled. (Please note that this information applies to people in Eau Claire County who have curbside trash collection or bring their recyclables to a county drop-off station. If you live outside the county or have a specific question, it’s best to contact your waste-hauling company or county recycling office.)

WHAT YOU CAN PUT IN THE BIN

• Aluminum Cans – soda, beer, cat food containers
• Tin/Steel Cans  – soup, fruit, and dog food containers, steel bottle tops and lids
• Glass Bottles & Jars – jelly, spaghetti sauce, beer
• #1 Plastics – water, soda and ketchup bottles; clamshell berry containers
• #2 Plastics – detergent, coffee, milk, shampoo, and conditioner containers
• #3 Plastics – vegetable oil containers
• #4 Plastics – squeeze bottles (such as honey)
• #5 Plastics – yogurt, cottage cheese, and medicine containers
• #7 Plastics – Tupperware, reusable bottles
• Cardboard – shipping and dry food boxes, manila folders, paper bags
• Mixed Paper – magazines, newspaper, office paper

WHAT YOU CAN’T PUT IN THE BIN

• NO Styrofoam or styrene items such as packing peanuts, egg cartons, foam cups, etc. These are typically labeled as #6 plastics. (Non-Styrofoam #6 plastics may be recycled, but check with your trash hauler.)
• NO plastic bags or film (Bring these to the stores that take them.)
• NO toys or hangers
• NO 5-gallon buckets
• NO motor oil or transmission fluid bottles
• NO flowerpots (Bring them to a nursery for reuse or recycling that accepts them.)
• NO cookware or dishes
• NO light bulbs
• NO beer and soda boxes, freezer and refrigerator food boxes, or milk and juice cartons (They have a moisture-proof coating that makes it hard to break them down.) *
• NO greasy pizza boxes
• NO napkins, tissues, or gift wrap

* Items accepted by Advanced Disposal and Earthbound Environmental

HERE’S SOME OTHER STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW: APPLIANCES

Most major appliances are banned from Wisconsin landfills, including air conditioners, washers and dryers, dishwashers, dehumidifiers/humidifiers, freezers, furnace boilers, microwaves, stoves/ovens, refrigerators, and water heaters. However, the following companies can help you recycle them:

• First Choice Recycling, 525 Park Ridge Court, Eau Claire, (715) 833-2005.
• Max Phillips, 3532 White Ave., Eau Claire, (715) 832-3431.
• Northern Metal Recycling: 8010 Olson Drive (County Q), Eau Claire, (715) 834-6677

COMPUTERS, TVs, AND OTHER ELECTRONICS

• First Choice Computer Recycling (accepts computer equipment, electronic equipment, and appliances), 525 Park Ridge Court, Eau Claire, (715) 833-2005, firstchoicerecycling.com.
• Best Buy (takes most electronics, but there is a size limit on TVs and computer monitors), 4090 Commonwealth Ave., (715) 833-0666, bestbuy.com

LIGHT BULBS

Old-fashioned incandescent bulbs can be thrown in the regular trash. However, florescent bulbs contain a small amount of mercury and should be recycled. Compact florescent bulbs (CFLs) – the new twisty kind that (usually) lasts forever – can be recycled at many retailers. Check recycleabulb.com for one near you. Florescent lamps – the long, tubular kind that look light Star Wars lightsabers – also can be recycled at:

• Eau Claire Ace Hardware, 2618 Birch St., Eau Claire, (715) 836-7788.
• Waste Management, (715) 723-7241.
• As part of the county’s Clean Sweep program.

BATTERIES

• Common household alkaline batteries (the kind you put in toys and flashlights) can be safely thrown in the trash or recycled for a fee at First Choice Computer Recycling, Batteries Plus, or Eau Claire County’s Clean Sweep events.
• Button batteries (the little ones in watches, hearing aids, etc.) and lithi um batteries can be recycled through the county Clean Sweep program.
• Rechargeable (nickel cadmium) batteries can be recycled at many retailers: Go to call2recycle.org and enter your ZIP code to find one near you.
• Old automotive batteries can be recycled free of charge by any retailer who sells you new ones. (Retailers may charge a nominal fee if you aren’t buying a new one.)

CLEAN SWEEP

Several times a year Eau Claire County holds a Clean Sweep event to help residents dispose of household hazardous waste. The remaining Clean Sweep for 2017 will be Saturday, Sept. 9, from 8am to noon at WRR Environmental Services, 5200 Ryder Road. (To reach WRR, follow Highway 93 south of Interstate 94, turn east onto Lorch Avenue (the first road south of I-94) as if heading to the car dealerships, and then immediately turn left onto Ryder Road, which goes south parallel to Highway 93.)

Materials accepted at no charge include oil, solvent-based and heavy metal-based paints and paint-related materials (thinners, turpentine, strippers, shellac, stains, varnish), corrosives (including photographic and pool chemicals), solvents, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, old fuels, cleaners, polishes, lead acid batteries, aerosol cans, and anti-freeze. Clean Sweep is open to household waste from Eau Claire County residents. Small businesses that qualify as very small quantity generators may also dispose of waste during the Clean Sweep. (Businesses should call BJ Michalek at WRR Environmental Services at (715) 834-9624 to register and to get more information.)

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

• Eau Claire County Recycling Program: (715) 839-2756
• Dunn County Solid Waste & Recycling: (715) 232-4017
• Chippewa County Recycling Program: (715) 726-7999