If you get a drink to go, you might want to think twice about throwing away your paper or plastic cup. At least two major waste companies that serve Indiana now accept those cups in their recycling.
Waste Management recently announced it would accept to-go cups. Rumpke Waste and Recycling has been taking them for two years now. Both companies provide recycling for multiple Indiana cities and towns or offer services like drop-off locations. Hillary Ladig with Rumpke said more demand for these materials has made recycling these cups possible.
"Paper mills kind of put out this announcement that they want cups. Take them in, and let's start recovering this very valuable material that we just simply didn't have a long term home for previously," she said.
There's also better technology to sort polypropylene, also known as plastic #5. Some to-go cups are polypropylene, but so are many tubs for things like yogurt, sour cream and imitation butter.
"The robotics in our Cincinnati recycling facility are trained to look for those specific shapes. And over time, as they do more picks or sort that material out more frequently, they become smarter. They learn what to look for," Ladig said.
When China decided to no longer accept low-level recycling from the U.S. in 2017, that forced the American recycling industry to innovate. Ladig said Rumpke has always been fortunate to have several manufacturers that can use its recycling in the Midwest.
"But it certainly was a wake up call to those of us in the recycling industry about ensuring long-term, viable recycling programs here domestically and making sure that we are more reliant on end users here at home versus abroad," she said.
Check with your local recycling service to make sure they accept to-go cups before throwing them in your recycle bin.
Ladig said all cups should be rinsed. Make sure to pair like materials together. So while a paper sleeve can stay on your paper coffee cup, the plastic lid should be thrown away.
Ladig said straws should go in the trash. Any plastic smaller than a business card likely won't make it through the sorting process.
Waste Management did not provide anyone for an interview.
Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or on Signal at IPBenvironment.01. Follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.
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