More Cities Providing Bins For Materials That Look Recyclable

WASHINGTON—Praising the initiatives for taking the guesswork out of the often confusing process of household waste disposal, a report released Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency noted that more cities are providing bins to residents for materials that look like they’re probably recyclable. “We realize it can be difficult to tell whether those grease-stained pizza boxes or cardboard orange juice cartons with plastic spouts can be salvaged or not, so with the rollout of these new bins, we’re encouraging residents to just toss them in and not worry about it,” said Rosa Fernandez, a spokesperson for the city of Seattle, which has encouraged its citizens to use the new bins to discard any plastic bags, wrapping paper, or other articles that they think could conceivably be repurposed, and place them on curbs beside their usual recycling and trash receptacles. “Whether you’re trying to figure out if your city takes plastics bearing the number 4 or higher, or you can’t remember if you’re allowed to recycle books, don’t fret—just look for the purple bins with the question mark.” Fernandez added that the city was currently considering providing an additional bin for items that residents know aren’t recyclable but which they nevertheless feel bad about throwing out.