What To Know When Recycling
Recycling begins with awareness and understanding what materials can be reused and how to prepare them properly. Making informed choices helps reduce contamination, keeps valuable resources out of landfills, and supports a healthier environment. At VitaRenova, we’re committed to helping communities recycle smarter and build lasting habits that make sustainability second nature.
Plastics You Can Recycle
PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)
Found in: Water and soda bottles, cooking oil containers, food packaging.
How To Dispose: Rinse clean, remove caps, and crush bottles to save space.
Recycled into: New bottles, food trays, and fibers for clothing or carpets.
♳
HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene)
Found in: Milk jugs, shampoo and detergent bottles, juice containers.
How to recycle: Rinse thoroughly and flatten when possible.
Can be recycled into: New bottles, plastic lumber, outdoor furniture, and pipes.
â™´
LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene)
Found in: Grocery and bread bags, plastic film, squeeze bottles.
How to recycle: Drop off at participating grocery stores or collection bins. many curbside systems don’t accept plastic film because it tangles in sorting equipment.
Recycled into: Floor tiles, trash can liners, and shipping envelopes.
♶
PP (Polypropylene)
Found in: Yogurt cups, bottle caps, straws, medicine bottles, takeout containers.
How to recycle: Increasingly accepted — check your local recycling guidelines.
Recycled into: Brooms, storage bins, battery cables, and signal lights.
â™·
Plastics You Can Not Recycle
PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
Found in: Pipes, vinyl flooring, shower curtains, plastic toys.
Why not recyclable: Contains chlorine and additives that release harmful gases during recycling.
♵
PS (Polystyrene)
Found in: Styrofoam cups, takeout containers, packing peanuts.
Why not recyclable: Lightweight and breaks apart easily, making collection and processing inefficient.
♸
Other / Mixed Plastics
Found in: Multi-layer food packaging, DVDs, sunglasses, some reusable bottles.
Why not recyclable: Made of multiple resins that are difficult to separate.
♹
Cardboard Recycling
Cardboard is one of the easiest materials to recycle, but only when it’s clean and prepared correctly. In certain areas around Iowa like Johnson County and Linn County, cardboard can’t go to the landfill, so learning how to recycle it the right way helps keep our communities clean and sustainable.
Prepare The Cardboard
Flatten your boxes: Break them down so they’re flat and easy to stack.
Keep it clean and dry: Grease, food, or moisture can ruin a batch of recyclables. If a pizza box has grease stains, tear off the clean top and recycle that part.
Remove extras: Take off any plastic wrap, packing peanuts, or tape before recycling.
Where to Recycle Curbside recycling
Place flattened cardboard inside your blue-top recycling cart. If it doesn’t fit, set it neatly underneath or next to the bin.
Drop-off centers: You can also take cardboard to local recycling locations, such as the East Side Recycling Center or the Iowa City Landfill & Recycling Center.
What Is Accepted?
You can recycle shipping and moving boxes, food boxes (like cereal or snack boxes) brown paper packaging and egg cartons.
You CANNOT recycle wet, greasy, or dirty cardboard, wax-coated boxes or boxes lined with plastic or foil, and boxes with lots of food residue (like frozen food boxes)
Why does it matter?
When recycled properly, cardboard can be turned into new boxes, paperboard, or packaging reducing the need for new raw materials. Recycling just one ton of cardboard saves over nine cubic yards of landfill space and conserves valuable natural resources. (though numbers vary by locale and reporting method)
E-Waste Recycling (Batteries & Electronics)
​Electronic waste (e-waste) includes items like old phones, computers, batteries, and small appliances. These materials contain valuable metals but can also release harmful toxins if not recycled correctly. Proper disposal ensures that these hazardous materials are safely handled and reusable components within them are recovered and possibly able to be reused.
Prepare The E-Waste
Remove batteries: Take out any batteries before recycling devices, they often need to be recycled separately.
Wipe data: Before recycling computers or phones, erase all personal data or perform a factory reset
Bundle cords: Collect cords and chargers together to make sorting easier
Where to Recycle?
Drop-off centers: Take e-waste to local electronics recycling centers or country collection events, such as the Iowa City Landfill & Recycling Centers E-Waste Station
Retail programs: Many retailers like Best Buy or Staples accept old electronics for free recycling
What is Accepted?
Accepted: Computers, phones, printers, monitors, TVs, small appliances, and rechargeable batteries
NOT Accepted: Items with leaking batteries, broken glass tubes (CRTs), or large household appliances like refrigerators for example
Why does it matter?
Recycling e-waste keeps toxic heavy metals out of soil and water and allows precious metals like gold, silver, and copper to be reused in new electronics
Paper Recycling
Paper is one of the most commonly recycled materials, but contamination can make it unusable. Clean paper recycling conserves trees, energy, and water.
Prepare the Paper
Keep paper clean and dry, remove food or other stains
Remove contaminants like staples, tape, and plastic covers when possible
Stack or bag neatly to prevent scattering
Where to recycle?
Place paper in your Blue-Top recycling cart
Drop off large volumes at a local recycling facility like..... for example
What is accepted?
Accepted: Office paper, newspaper, magazines, mail, envelopes, and paper bags
NOT Accepted: paper towels, tissues, waxed or plastic-coated paper, and heavily soiled paper
Why does it matter?
Recycled paper can become new paper products up to seven times, reducing the need for logging and saving significant amounts of water and energy
​Metal Recycling
Metal recycling plays a key role in sustainability because metals can be reused indefinitely without losing strength or quality. Recycling metals like aluminum, steel, and copper saves energy, reduces emissions, and conserves natural resources.
Prepare the Metal
Clean Containers: Rinse off food cans and aluminum trays to remove and leftover residue
Separate by type: Keep aluminum and steel separate, some centers pay for scrap metal by weight
Remove contaminants: Take off plastic caps, paper labels, and any other mixed materials before recycling
Flatten cans: Lightly crush cans to make room in your recycling bin
Where to Recycle?
Curbside collection: Clean aluminum and steel cans can go in your regular blue-top recycling bin
Scrap yards: For larger items like bikes, pipes, or appliances, take them to a local scrap metal recycling yard
Community recycling centers: Many facilities have separate bins for metals, and some pay cash for high-value metals like copper or brass
What is Accepted?
Accepted: Aluminum cans, tin cans, food containers, metal lids, foil, and clean scrap pieces
NOT​ Accepted: Paint cans, propane tanks, aerosol cans with contents inside, or any metal items mixed with non-metal materials such as plastic handles
Why it matters?
Recycling aluminum saves up to 95% of the energy required to produce it from raw ore. In fact, the average aluminum can you recycle today can return to store shelves as a new can in as little as 60 days. Every bit of metal recycled reduces the demand for mining and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
​
Glass Recycling
Glass is a durable, endlessly recyclable material that never loses quality no matter how many times it is processed. However, glass must be sorted correctly and kept clean to ensure it can be remade into new containers.
Prepare the Glass
Rinse thoroughly: Remove all food, drink, and residue
Remove lids and caps: Plastic and metal lids should be recycled separately
Avoid mixing colors: if your recycling center sorts by color (clear, brown, green), separate them before drop-off
Do not break glass: Broken pieces can pose a safety risk and are often not accepted in curbside bins
Where to Recycle?
Curbside programs: In some areas glass can go directly into your recycling cart in others it must be taken to a designated drop-off point
Drop-off centers: Bring bottles and jars to facilities like the East Side Recycling Center or the Iowa City Landfill & Recycling Center
Bottle redemption centers: Many beverage bottles can be returned for a small deposit under Iowa's "Bottle Bill." Iowa's Bottle Bill requires a $0.05 deposit on many carbonated and alcoholic beverage containers, refundable when returned to a redemption center or store.
What is Accepted?
Accepted: Clean glass bottles and jars (any color)
NOT Accepted: Window glass, mirrors, ceramics, dishes, light bulbs, or tempered glass due to them melting at different temperatures and introduces the possibility of contaminating batches
Why it Matters?
​Each ton of recycled glass saves more than a ton of raw materials such as sand, soda ash, and limestone. It also reduces energy use by up to 30% in glass manufacturing. Recycling just one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. ​
Organic Waste (Compostable Materials)
Organic waste like food scraps, leaves, and compostable packaging, accounts for a large portion of household garbage. Instead of sending it to the landfill where it produces methane, composting transforms organic matter into nutrient-rich soil that can support local gardens and farms.
Prepare the Waste
Collect Properly: Keep a kitchen pail or bin for daily food scraps, line it with compostable bags or paper
Cust into smaller pieces: Chop large items like melon rinds or corn cobs to help them break down faster
Avoid Contamination: Never mix plastics, glass, or metals in with compost
Balance Ingredients: Use a mix of greens like food scraps or coffee grounds and browns like leaves, paper, sawdust for the best compost results
Where to compost?
Curbside composting: Many Iowa communities now collect organics in green or brown carts for municipal composting
Drop-off locations: Local Facilities and community gardens often accept food scraps and yard trimmings
At home: You can compost in a backyard bin, tumbler, or vermicomposting setup using worms for smaller spaces
What is Accepted?
Accepted: Fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, yard waste, and compostable paper products
NOT Accepted: Meat, fish, dairy, oily foods, pet waste, plastics, or synthetic fibers unless specifically accepted by your cities composting program
Why it Matters?
Composting reduces landfill waste, cuts methane emissions, and enriches local soil. Each ton of food waste composted instead of landfilled prevents about 0.3 tons of CO2-equivilant emissions. The finished compost improves soil structure, water retention, and plant growth helping communities close the loop between food and soil.