Recycling 101 Stephanie Mills and Bianca Cassouto

About Us Stephanie Mills -Graduate Student in Global Sustainability -Undergrad in Environmental Studies/Biology -Hazardous Waste Cleanup/ Brownfields, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Bianca Cassouto -PCGS Graduate Student -Undergrad in Geography Geosciences -First Environmental Internship: Litter Prevention Coordinator -The Sustany Foundation -Green Me Locally

Tampa is a single-stream city!

How do they do it?

City of Tampa Recycling Guidelines

Recycling 101 ●Computer paper/mixed paper ●Colored paper ●Corrugated cardboard ●Kraft paper ●Magazines/Catalogs ●Newspaper & inserts ●Paperboard (cereal boxes & soda boxes) ●Phone books ●Junk Mail *We throw away enough office paper each year to build a 12 foot high wall of paper from New York to Los Angeles!

Recycling 101 ●Aluminum/tin cans & bottles ●Aluminum foil & pie tins *We throw away enough aluminum each year that we could rebuild our entire commercial air fleet every 3 months!

Recycling 101 ●Glass beverage * Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled endlessly without loss in quality or purity – something no other food and beverage packaging option can claim * Recycled glass is substituted for up to 95% of raw materials

Recycling 101 ●Plastic Containers #1-7 *We throw away enough plastic soda bottles each year to circle the earth four times!

Recycling 101 ●Aseptic juice boxes ●Gable top containers *The paper fiber contained in cartons is extremely valuable and useful to make new products.

Recycling 101 Reminders ●Materials must be clean and well washed ●Caps and tops to certain recyclable materials cannot be recycled ●It is now considered best practice to leave lids on bottles -Due to small size they end up in residue ●No plastic bags -Grocery bags -Garbage bags -Dry cleaning bags

Avoiding Contamination

What Causes Contamination? ●Putting the wrong materials into the recycling bin may ruin the entire batch ●The higher the quality of the recycled material, the more the companies will want to buy it, and the higher the price they’ll pay for it What can happen when you put the wrong things in the recycling bin? ●Sorting machines can become damaged - Costing time and money ●Broken machines mean timely sorting by hand ●“One bad apple could spoil the bunch” pretty much sums up the situation -Too much waste in one load means the whole thing can end up in the landfill

Recyclable or Not Recyclable? Can these materials be recycled? If yes, where should they be taken? ●Soda bottle caps/lids ●Food covered items - paper products, cardboard, aluminum ●Cardboard lined with plastic ●Light bulbs/fluorescent ●Mirror/window glass* ●Ceramics ●Plastic sandwich bags* ●Plastic utensils ●Styrofoam ●Plastic grocery bags ●Ink cartridges ●Pens/razors/toothbrushes/hang ers ●E-waste/electronics ●Paint cans/motor oil containers ●Tires ●Scrap metal ●Wood* ●Medicine ●Saran/cling wrap ●Spray Paint/Aerosol Cans*

Recyclable or Not Recyclable? Can these materials be recycled? If yes, where should they be taken? ●Bottle caps/lids - generally NO - only #1 and #2 ●Food covered items - paper products, cardboard, aluminum - NO - remove food residue to recycle ●Cardboard lined with plastic - YES - new initiatives now allow these types of products to be recycled with regular curbside recycling ●Light bulbs/fluorescent - Not in curbside, only at Hillsborough County drop-off recycling facilities ●Mirror/window glass - NO - too thick to be processed with recyclable glass ●Ceramics - NO ●Plastic utensils - NO - made of different types of plastics ●Styrofoam - Not in curbside, only at certain drop off facilities ●Batteries - Not in Curbside, only at Hillsborough County drop off facilities

Recyclable or Not Recyclable? Can these materials be recycled? If yes, where should they be taken? ●Plastic grocery bags/Ziploc bags - Not in curbside, only at certain drop off facilities ●Ink cartridges - Not in curbside, only at certain drop off facilities ●Pens/razors/toothbrushes/hangers - NO - only #1 and #2 ●E-waste/electronics - Not in curbside - only at certain Hillsborough County drop off facilities ●Spray paint/aerosol containers - YES - as long as they are empty of contents ●Paint cans/motor oil containers - NO - contents must be taken to hazardous waste disposal facility ●Tires - NO - only at certain Hillsborough County recycling facilities ●Scrap metal - Not in curbside, only at certain drop off locations ●Wood - NO - depending on type, can be taken to salvage yards or composting facilities

City of Tampa Recycling Facilities ● USF Tampa Campus - Sycamore Drive - behind soccer fields, right off 50th St. ● McKay Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility North 34 th Street, Tampa FL ● Royal Regional Parking Lot- Downtown Tampa Royal Street, Tampa FL Coming April 2015

County Facilities in Hillsborough ●Alderman Ford Facility, 9402 SR 39, Lithia. Phone: Accepts collectible waste, non-collectible waste, scrap metal, tires and lead acid batteries ●Hillsborough Heights Facility, 6209 CR 579, Thonotosassa. Phone: Accepts collectible waste, non-collectible waste, scrap metal, tires, lead acid batteries and recyclable curbside materials ●Northwest County Facility, 8001 W Linebaugh Ave., Tampa, Phone: Accepts collectible waste, non-collectible waste, yard waste, scrap metal, tires, lead acid batteries and recyclable curbside materials ●South County Facility, U.S. 41, north of Big Bend Road, Gibsonton. Phone: Accepts collectible waste, non- collectible waste, yard waste, scrap metal, tires and lead acid batteries ●Wimauma Facility, West Lake Drive, Wimauma (1.5 miles north of SR 674). Phone: Accepts collectible waste, non- collectible waste, yard waste, scrap metal, tires and lead acid batteries ●Resource Recovery Facility, 350 N Falkenburg Road, Tampa. Phone: Accepts yard waste only

Hazardous Waste Recycling Materials accepted include: ●Paints and solvents ●Used motor oil| ●Automotive products ●Pool chemicals ●Mercury containing devices, such as fluorescent light bulbs & thermometers ●Lawn, garden and household chemicals 1st Saturday of each month Town & Country Collection Site 9805 Sheldon Road Tampa, FL nd Saturday of each month South County Collection Site US Hwy 41 Gibsonton, FL one quarter mile north of Big Bend Road 3rd Saturday of each month East County Collection Site 6209 County Road 579 Seffner, FL one quarter mile north of I-4 exit 10

Batteries ●Batteries Plus takes old batteries -703 West Fletcher Ave, Tampa, FL ●Target and Staples also take batteries ●Hillsborough County does recycle batteries through the hazardous waste collection centers - 3 Saturdays a month

Make Money ●Sell your used scrap metal -Curbside recyclables and non curbside metals -Appliances, household goods, scraps, cans ●Simply drop off any ferrous scrap (metal that sticks to a magnet like iron, steel or an automobile) or nonferrous scrap (like aluminum, copper, brass, and wire) and get paid 5509 East Henry Avenue Tampa, FL (813)

Make Money ●Hillsborough county EPC ●Money for Mercury program ●Receive a $5 Publix gift card for every thermometer, thermostat, or switch you bring to a county hazardous waste recycling facility

Make Money

Helpful Resources ●Earth 911.com - Recycle Guide ●Earth 911.com - Recycling Center Search & Recycling Guides

Time for a Pop Quiz!!

Can you handle this?

Thank you! Questions? City of Tampa Recycling Contact Lori Van Bemden (813)