OHIO — Rumpke customers can now recycle more after the company expanded its list of recyclable materials this month.
Along with the usual glass bottles, metal cans and cardboard, the waste and recycling company now accepts plastic tubs, jugs and bottles. This includes empty tubs of butter, sour cream, yogurt and fruit cups.
Rumpke's recyclable materials include:
- Glass bottles and jars (all colors)
- Metal cans — aluminum cans, steel cans and lids, empty aerosol cans with the lids and tips removed
- Plastic bottles and jugs (empty, crush, reattach lid) that have a small mouth and wider base, such as milk jugs, soda bottles, laundry detergent bottles, water bottles, shampoo bottles and contact solution bottles
- Plastic tubs, such as containers for butter, sour cream cottage cheese, yogurt, Jello and fruit slices would fall into the tub category with lids reattached prior to recycling
- Paper, including newspaper, magazines, cardboard, mixed office paper and envelopes, paperboard (cereal boxes), pizza boxes free of food debris and grease, telephone books and catalogs
- Food and beverage cartons, such as milk, juice, soup, wine, broth and other cartons
Rumpke recommends emptying all containers, and there's no need to separate them or remove any labels. For cartons, remove any caps or straws and for plastic bottles, crush them and reattach lids.
The company doesn't recycle plastic bags, cassette tapes, bed sheets, hangers, metal chains, garden hoses, batteries, needles, syringes, electronics, polystyrene foam, buckets, car parts, food, yard waste, light bulbs, drinking glasses, ceramics, pots, pans and scrap metal.
"The average American generates nearly one ton of trash a year, creating serious problems if it all goes into the landfill," Rumpke wrote on its website. "Identifying recyclables and committing to household recycling practices goes a long way in reducing waste."
Rumpke serves mostly central and southern Ohio customers, parts of Kentucky including Louisville and Lexington, along with areas of Indiana.