How to Properly Recycle Your Paper and Cardboard

If you receive pizza deliveries or packages regularly, you probably have a pile of empty boxes sitting somewhere in your house. 【小题1】 For example, the pizza boxes you’ve been “recycling” are actually getting thrown away by employees at the recycling center. 【小题2】 Due to Earth Day, we’ll help make sure you’re recycling them the right way.

According to the University of Southern Indiana, one billion trees’ worth of paper is thrown in the trash annually — and that’s just in the US. I spoke with some recycling experts and here’s what I found out about the right way to recycle paper and cardboard.

【小题3】 For example, you can recycle a delivery box, but not a contaminated(受污染的)pizza box. This is because the oils from the pizza saturate(浸透)the cardboard, making it unrecyclable. 【小题4】 A recycling center employee advised cutting out the contaminated part of the cardboard and placing it in your compost(堆肥)bin.

Before you bring the cardboard to your nearest recycling center or put it in a bin for pickup, break the boxes down so that they’re lying flat. 【小题5】 If possible, remove the tape from the boxes before taking the cardboard to the recycling center, as well. Saving the employees a step can help make the recycling process more efficient.