With the City of Chicago mandating that all our recyclables be separated and properly disposed, here are some “Do’s and Don’ts” provided by our friends and Republic services, to help us refine and improve our recycling habits.

DO’s

Do recycle paper, junk mail, magazines, paper bags, newspaper, catalogs, cereal boxes, paper back books and cardboard.

Do recycle glass jars and bottles free of food residue.

Do recycle clean aluminum and bi-metal cans.

Do recycle plastics # 1-5 and #7. These include soda and juice bottles, milk jugs, shampoo bottles, laundry jugs etc.

Do a quick rinse on your bottles and containers. You can leave on the labels and keep the caps on.

Do flatten all cardboard and cereal boxes. Remove packaging first.

Do place recyclables loosely in container or use a clear or paper bag.

Do place all recyclables in the designated recycling container in your building.

DON’TS

Don’t put Paper coffee cups or its plastic lids in the recycling container. They cannot be recycled.

Don’t put contaminated paper in your recycling. Soiled items such as pizza boxes, napkins and tissues are not recyclable.

Don’t put plastics bags in recycling. Plastics bags must be returned to your local grocer.

Don’t place broken window or glass, pottery or china in recycling.

Don’t put Styrofoam or plastic # 6 take out containers or packaging materials in recycling.

Don’t put recycling in black bags.

Don’t put Electronic Waste, Batteries or CFL bulbs in recycling. At work contact your IT dept. or at home bring to a local recycling event or check your cities website for local resources.

If you ever have a questions, you can also contact the office.