Recycling at Home Just Got Easier
The average American generates nearly one ton of trash a year, creating serious problems if it all goes into the landfill.
Identifying recyclables and committing to household recycling practices goes a long way in reducing waste. When recyclable items are thrown away with other solid waste, they take up valuable space at landfills. However, when recyclable items are placed in recycling bins they are sent to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) where they are separated and transported to end markets to be turned into something new. Recycling certain materials offers benefits to the environment by conserving natural resources, reducing pollution, and saving energy.
Disposing of recyclables also represents a significant duplication of efforts. When glass, plastic, paper, and metal are thrown away as trash instead of the recycling bin, those items must be made again from virgin materials into new products. The added efforts put a strain on manufacturing, ultimately leaving fewer resources for other purposes.
Rumpke has made significant investments in recycling technology to make residential recycling easy and convenient for you. We offer curbside recycling and public recycling drop boxes throughout our service regions.
Learn more about our recycling programs, and learn how you can make your recycling count by embracing single stream recycling at home.
The Benefits of Single Stream Recycling
Rumpke’s single stream recycling program allows residential recyclables to be mixed together and sorted later at our state of the art recycling facilities.
This means that homeowners don’t have to sort recyclables, as required by dual stream recycling programs.
Single stream programs focus on all recyclable materials generated by residents–glass recycling, plastic recycling, and more—not just individual pre-sorted materials. This comprehensive approach helps divert the greatest volume of recyclable materials from landfills.
With single stream recycling, homeowners aren’t burdened with the job of separating or sorting their recyclables. Ultimately, this convenience means more people participate, leading to an overall reduction in waste.
Recyclable Items
In our residential recycling program, you no longer have to separate items by material type. Simply place all recyclable materials in a single container for the collection truck, and we’ll handle the rest.
Residents can typically recycle the following items:
- Plastic bottles, jugs, and tubs
- Glass bottles and jars
- Aluminum cans
- Steel cans and lids
- Paperboard (like cereal boxes)
- Cardboard
- Office paper
- Envelopes and junk mail
- Newspapers, magazines and inserts
- Telephone books and catalogs
- Cartons
For additional details on items you can recycle, please see our acceptable items list. On collection day, your recycling will go through our system and be reliably sorted by material type.
You’ll be doing your part to help protect the environment while we make residential waste disposal easier for you.
Single Stream Recycling FAQs:
Do states mandate recycling?
Unfortunately, no; only about half of the states have laws requiring homes and businesses to recycle, but we're on the front-lines of the movement and committed to improving recycling rates with our single stream recycling process. Single stream recycling can reduce barriers for communities and municipalities that want to take steps to change laws in support of environmental causes.
Rumpke currently offers recycling services in areas of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia.
Is all glass recyclable?
Recyclable glass is actually different from other glass. Many items made of glass melt at different temperatures by chemical design and cannot be recycled in a single stream system. Non-recyclable glass includes glass objects, window glass, and drinking glasses.
Recyclers of broken glass (even recyclable glass) should also know that it can disrupt the recycling system.
Glass bottles and food jars are still recyclable items.
Why are recycled materials often turned away?
Contaminants on recyclables is a leading reason that items–and bales of material from the same shipment–are often rejected from the recycling process. Messy containers, dirty pizza boxes, empty plastic bags, toothpaste tubes, paper towels, and napkins are items that are often mistaken as being recyclable materials, but instead disrupt the entire recycling system.
Additionally, though black plastic is recyclable, waste sorting systems in a single stream recycling facility can’t easily distinguish the black pigments, inadvertently pulling them out of the recycling system and depositing them into a landfill.
Why Choose Rumpke Recycling?
Choosing Rumpke to provide residential recycling pickup means you’ll get much more than just that one service. No other provider in the area offers as many value-added services as we do. We’re equipped to handle regular garbage pickup, recyclables, and much more including yard waste, and dumpster rental.
When it comes to choosing a commercial recycling service for your business, know that we offer a full range of services to meet your needs including office trash removal and recycling, industrial waste management, haulers, and construction site waste management services.
We’re one of the most experienced and knowledgeable waste management and recycling collection companies in the industry. In everything we do, we’re committed to keeping communities clean and the environment healthy.
We use the most responsible and innovative practices for our customers, whether you are a homeowner or a business seeking commercial recycling services. We have nearly 100 years of experience and know-how in the waste and recycling business, which means we know what it takes to create cleaner and greener communities.
If you want to learn more about what we can do for you or if you’re ready to request service, get in touch with us today to learn about our competitive collection costs.
Rumpke offers curbside recycling and public recycling drop boxes throughout its service region.
