Confused about where to place your broken, chipped, or un-useable dishes?
You can find more information on our web, so please take a look.
If it is a glass jar or regular glass, it can go into the blue recycling cart.
If it is crystal, pyrex, ceramics, or high heat capable dishes, then it needs to be disposed of in the black landfill cart.
We recently had a question from an eager recycler about broken plates, asking if they could be recycled in Muncie through any of our recycling initiatives. It&#;s a great question, and I know I find myself trying to figure out a way to recycle everything at my house, and I am always pondering what can be recycled.
The problem is plates, coffee mugs and other ceramics used in the kitchen would fall into the glass category, and such items aren&#;t accepted in our glass recycling process. Glass accepted and being recycled in our blue bag system should consist of clear, brown and green glass, that include food containers ( think salsa jars), beer bottles, wine bottles, etc. Ceramics, broken windows, crystal, light bulbs, etc. should not be placed in the recycling blue bags because such materials can contaminate the glass recycling process weakening the recycled glass.
However, you can collect broken ceramics and broken glass separately in a box and bring it to East Central Recycling to be recycled if you are a resident and it is under a certain weight (1oo lbs).
According to the Waste Management website:
The glass is taken to a manufacturing or recycling plant where it is broken up into smaller pieces known as &#;cullet.&#;
The cullet is crushed, sorted, cleaned, and prepared to be mixed with other raw materials.
When glass is produced from virgin materials, it requires high temperatures to melt and combine all the ingredients. Since cullet melts at a lower temperature, the more of it you add to a batch of raw materials, the less energy needed to melt it.
Ceramics such as coffee cups and plates present a problem in the glass-making process because they can weaken the glass. Even a small amount of ceramics can contaminate a whole batch of glass and cost the glassmaker millions of dollars.
So please don&#;t place such items in the blue bags, because it can contaminate the recycling process and cause major problems. Instead, consider doing something crafty with your broken ceramics and glass by making a mosaic or table top. Here is a blog with some artsy suggestions. There are plenty of other ideas online if you do a quick search. If that doesn&#;t interest you, you can collect separately in a box to take to ECR, or your last resort is to just trash them in the regular waste stream.
Midas supply professional and honest service.
Jason Donati
Muncie Sanitary District
Stormwater and Recycling Educator
Like
Loading...
Want more information on Ceramic Cups? Feel free to contact us.