Why can’t I recycle cardboard boxes from 12-pack soda cans and other refrigerated and frozen food boxes – e.g. beer, butter, pizza, TV dinner, etc.?
If the box holding your fridge pack if soda or beer was just like any other thin cardboard, when the cans sweat (i.e. when water condensates on the outside), they would come crashing out through the bottom. To prevent this from happening to all of your boxes frozen and refrigerated cardboard packaging, it is either coated or treated with a chemical that prevents it from breaking down when wet. Regular cardboard breaks down when wet and that’s how recyclers at paper mills mush your cardboard back into pulp – they use water. For this reason, refrigerated and frozen food boxes are contaminants to the paper buyers and are not accepted for recycling.

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1. Do I really HAVE to recycle?
2. What items are recyclable?
3. Can I put plastic bags in my recycling bin?
4. Do I have to separate my recyclable items?
5. Where do I get recycling bins?
6. How do I know if my hauler is licensed by the town?
7. Where is the local transfer station?
8. How do I dispose of household hazardous waste – e.g. propane tanks, oil based paints, rechargable batteries, fluorescent light bulbs?
9. How can I recycle a computer or TV?
10. Why can’t I recycle cardboard boxes from 12-pack soda cans and other refrigerated and frozen food boxes – e.g. beer, butter, pizza, TV dinner, etc.?
11. Are pizza delivery boxes recyclable?
12. Can I recycle Styrofoam?
13. How can I recycle more on a daily basis?