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I live in New Haven and saw on our handy recycling flyer [0] that pizza boxes are listed, with no caveat, as being a single stream curbside recyclable item. Wh

I live in New Haven and saw on our handy recycling flyer [0] that pizza boxes are listed, with no caveat, as being a single stream curbside recyclable item. Which is great, because pizza is a whole thing in this town. We eat a lot of it. So I was surprised to learn, if you go poking around and find the RecycleCT website [1] and hover your mouse over the pizza box, up pops this note. "No food residue. No liner." Never in my life have I had a pizza box without grease soaked through it. Maybe they've just given up, and knowing it won't be recycled anyway, they don't bother to make a fuss about what can go in the bin? Is this flyer just there to make us feel better about our waste? Because otherwise that's a pretty major note to forget to mention. Pizza boxes are recyclable, just as long as there's never been any pizza in it. [0] https://www.newhavenct.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=31946 https://www.newhavenct.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?b... [1] https://www.recyclect.com https://www.recyclect.com

esotericn 7y ago
Shouldn't a pizza box be compostable anyway? It's mostly cardboard?
- yawz 7y ago
  AFAIK composting or compost collection is not available everywhere.
  - wlesieutre 7y ago
    Correct, no city compost here and I'm in an apartment building so I can't put a pile of it in the backyard
yawz 7y ago
A used pizza box can almost always only be composted.
secabeen 7y ago
You can tear the top off and recycle that, and discard the greasy bottom. While some pizzas will also soil the top of the box, you sometimes get one that's pristine.
carti 7y ago
A lot of the local guidelines I've seen mention that light grease is ok.
detritus 7y ago
This is a common misconception and one which has led to me having many 'conversations' with housemates and neighbours over the years. You might find that greasy, unlaminated cardboard is recyclable in the food/organic waste stream, as it is here in London.
- wlesieutre 7y ago
  The only food/organic waste stream I've got here is the sewer, curbside pickup has trash and recycling
vict00ms 7y ago
It's worse than you realize: a single pizza box can contaminate an entire bale of (otherwise recyclable) cardboard.

esotericn 7y ago

Shouldn't a pizza box be compostable anyway? It's mostly cardboard?

yawz 7y ago
AFAIK composting or compost collection is not available everywhere.
- wlesieutre 7y ago
  Correct, no city compost here and I'm in an apartment building so I can't put a pile of it in the backyard

yawz 7y ago

A used pizza box can almost always only be composted.

secabeen 7y ago

You can tear the top off and recycle that, and discard the greasy bottom. While some pizzas will also soil the top of the box, you sometimes get one that's pristine.

carti 7y ago

A lot of the local guidelines I've seen mention that light grease is ok.

detritus 7y ago

This is a common misconception and one which has led to me having many 'conversations' with housemates and neighbours over the years. You might find that greasy, unlaminated cardboard is recyclable in the food/organic waste stream, as it is here in London.

wlesieutre 7y ago
The only food/organic waste stream I've got here is the sewer, curbside pickup has trash and recycling

vict00ms 7y ago

It's worse than you realize: a single pizza box can contaminate an entire bale of (otherwise recyclable) cardboard.