While some curbside recycling programs accept everything from plastics #1-7 to e-waste, many municipalities only accept glass, paper, and some rigid plastics. That’s where TerraCycle comes in!
At TerraCycle, we aim to provide easy-to-use recycling options to anyone who wants to recycle! So, what is the difference between TerraCycle and your curbside recycling service? Keep reading to find out more:
Curbside recycling
Curbside recycling services often accept items like paper and cardboard, glass, metals like aluminum, and some rigid plastics. There are seven types of plastic, but those with resin codes #1 and #2 are usually the only ones you can recycle curbside.
Curbside recyclability depends on your local recycling service’s ability to profit from recycling an item. If the cost of collecting and processing the trash is higher than the value of the resulting raw material, it’s likely that it won’t be recyclable curbside.
Make sure to research your local recycling service so you can avoid wishcycling—the well-intentioned belief that something is recyclable, even when it’s not. Check out this blog, too, to learn more about the different types of plastics.
TerraCycle is here to recycle everything your curbside service doesn’t accept.
TerraCycle recycling
We are different from your local curbside recycler. TerraCycle has developed innovative ways to collect and recycle hard-to-recycle trash like cigarette butts, beauty products, and toys! We’re able to recycle hard-to-recycle trash because we work with retailers who fund the recycling process.
We offer both free and paid recycling solutions! We have free recycling programs for everything from guitar strings to snack packaging, and our Zero Waste Boxes can even recycle the entire contents of your bathroom.
Recycling deserts
Unfortunately, not everyone has access to convenient curbside recycling. A recycling desert is a community with very few recycling centers or recycling municipalities, and they exist for a number of reasons, like lack of municipal funding, low resident participation, and general costliness. It’s estimated that about 33 percent of all single-family households in the US do not have access to convenient recycling.
While TerraCycle is not a replacement for curbside recycling, it does provide an additional option for people in these areas to recycle their unrecyclables. Learn more about how we’re Eliminating the Idea of Waste® at terracycle.com.