Recycle Right! Do you know what’s accepted in your community’s recycling bin? Some items like plastic bottles/jugs, aluminum and tin cans, and cardboard are universally accepted. However, other items such as plastic tubs, cartons, and glass are regionally accepted. This is because each communities recycling is processed by a local Material Recovery Facility (MRF) that uses people and technology to sort co-mingled residential recycling back into natural resource categories (paper=trees, plastics=oil, cans=metal). Each MRF has varying capacity and systems for sorting, which affects materials that can be collected in each community. Additionally, each MRF is responsible for sourcing its own buyers for its materials. If there is not a regional or international market for a material, there is no value in collecting it. Therefore, only the highest quality (non-contaminated/no wrong items) bales of sorted materials have high value. Check to make sure you’re recycling right and if in doubt, it’s best to throw it out!