What Can Go in Your Recycling Can? A Simple Guide for BVR Customers.

The Golden Rules of BVR Recycling

Before getting into specific materials, keep these three basics in mind for your BVR cart:

• Clean – No food, liquids, or heavy residue on recyclables.

• Empty – Containers should be fully empty; a quick rinse is often enough.

• Loose – Never bag recyclables. Place items directly in your cart, loose.

When recyclables are dirty, bagged, or mixed with trash, they can contaminate entire loads and may end up being thrown away instead of recycled.

As you read the categories below, think “empty, clean, and loose” for everything that goes into your BVR recycling can.

Guide to BVR Recycling

Cardboard: Flattened and Food‑Free

Cardboard is one of the most valuable and commonly recycled materials in your BVR cart.

You can usually recycle:

• Shipping boxes (like from online orders)

• Cereal, snack, and tissue boxes (remove plastic liners)

• Shoe boxes and other product packaging

To recycle cardboard correctly:

• Flatten boxes – This saves space in your cart and helps with sorting.

• Remove packing materials – Take out foam, plastic air pillows, and bubble wrap.

• Keep it dry and clean – Oily or heavily food‑stained cardboard (like greasy pizza boxes) should go in the trash. If only a small area is greasy, you can tear off the clean part and recycle that.

If cardboard is wet, greasy, or covered in food, the fibers don’t break down properly in the recycling process, which can reduce the quality of the entire batch.

Paper: Office, Mail, and Newspapers

Most clean, dry paper can go in your BVR recycling can.

Common recyclable paper items:

• Office paper, envelopes (plastic windows are okay in small amounts)

• Newspapers and inserts

• Magazines and catalogs

• Paper bags and clean wrapping paper (no foil or glitter)

To keep paper recyclable:

• Keep it dry – Wet paper breaks down and can’t be processed properly.

• Avoid food‑soiled paper – Paper towels, napkins, plates, and takeout containers with food or grease belong in the trash.

• Remove obvious contaminants – Take off rubber bands or large plastic pieces when possible.

Think of paper this way: if it’s clean, dry, and not designed to be “messy” with food or restroom use, it likely belongs in your recycling cart.

Aluminum Cans: Empty, Rinsed, and Ready

Aluminum is a recycling superstar – it can be recycled over and over again with no loss of quality.

You can recycle:

• Soda and sparkling water cans

• Beer cans

• Other beverage cans

How to prep aluminum cans:

• Empty completely – Pour out any leftover liquid.

• Quick rinse – Swirl with a bit of water to remove residue; you don’t need them spotless, just free of obvious liquid and food.

• No need to crush – If you like to crush cans to save space, that’s fine, but it’s not required.

Avoid putting in:

• Foil with heavy food residue

• Foil pans or trays that are greasy or caked in food

Clean aluminum is highly desirable in the recycling process, but contaminated cans can cause issues with smell, pests, and sorting.

Plastic Bottles & Jugs: Empty, Clean, and With Lids On

For plastics, a simple rule of thumb is: bottles and jugs that held liquids and are now empty and clean.

Commonly accepted items include:

• Water, soda, and sports drink bottles

• Milk and juice jugs

• Detergent, shampoo, and household cleaner bottles (empty and rinsed)

Best practices for plastic containers:

• Empty and rinse – A quick rinse keeps smells, pests, and contamination down.

• Put caps back on – Small, loose caps can fall through equipment, but on the bottle they can be captured and recycled.

• Ignore the chasing‑arrows symbol alone – Not every plastic with a symbol is accepted. Focus on bottles and jugs, not small, flimsy plastics.

Keep these out of your recycling cart unless BVR specifically says otherwise:

• Plastic bags and plastic film

• Styrofoam products

• Plastic utensils, straws, and small, flimsy packaging

If it’s a firm plastic bottle or jug that once held a liquid, emptied and rinsed, it’s usually a good candidate for your BVR recycling can.

What Should Stay Out of Your Recycling Can

Keeping trash and non‑recyclables out of your BVR cart is just as important as putting the right items in. Common “wish‑cycling” items (things people hope are recyclable but usually aren’t) include:

• Plastic wrap

• Plastic grocery bags

• Plastic bubble wrap mailers

• Pizza boxes

• Wax-coated boxes from frozen foods

• Pots and pans

• Ink cartridges

• Broken eyeglasses

• Tuppeware

• Styrofoam

• Small plastic lids

• Coffee pods ("K-Cups")

• Hazardous waste (batteries, chemicals, electronics, flammables & explosives, liquid cleaners, mercury-containing items, paints & solvents, sharps & medical waste, vehicular fluids)

These items can damage equipment, slow down operations, and contaminate otherwise good recyclables. When in doubt, it’s better to throw something away than risk contaminating your entire cart.

Quick BVR Recycling Checklist for Your Kitchen

Before you walk your cart to the curb, run through this short mental checklist:

• Cardboard: Boxes flattened, food‑free, and dry

• Paper: Clean, dry, and not greasy or heavily soiled

• Aluminum: Empty, lightly rinsed cans only

• Plastic: Empty, rinsed bottles and jugs with caps on

• Everything is loose in the cart – no plastic bags

• No obvious trash, food, or yard waste mixed in

Building these habits into your daily routine makes recycling easier, cleaner, and more effective for everyone served by BVR Waste & Recycling.