We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more›
So many of us have been there: guiltily wondering what to do with piles of plastic bubble wrapping, air pillows, or peanuts from a package. Fast Food Container Forming Machine
How do you responsibly dispose of this junk?
This is something we really care about here at Wirecutter. After all, many of the items we test and recommend are purchased by our readers online then shipped all over the country.
Unfortunately, most packaging (by design) can’t be recycled. And if you throw it into a curbside bin, it’ll likely end up polluting another part of the world.
However, smart strategies can help ensure that what you do put into the recycling bin has the best chance of being recycled.
Keep in mind that when it comes to shopping, packaging contributes a smaller amount to global carbon emissions than transportation (shipping, delivery, and travel to and from the store).
So if you want to reduce the environmental effects from buying stuff, you’ll have the most impact by adjusting how you shop, including shopping less, buying secondhand, and opting for slower, grouped deliveries.
That said, packaging from shopping adds up to more than a quarter of all municipal solid waste in the United States, according to the EPA, and consumes a considerable amount of resources, including fossil fuels.
Here’s what to sort for curbside pickup and other recycling programs and what to throw in the trash.
Unless you can find a use for them in your home, it’s actually more responsible to throw away plastics that can’t be accepted curbside than to put it in the recycling bin and say a prayer.
The majority of global plastic production goes into packaging, but only some of that can be recycled. Depending on where you live, most plastic packaging won’t be recyclable in your curbside bin—and as our colleagues at The New York Times’s Climate desk have reported, you can’t assume that anything with a recyclable symbol will be accepted by your local system.
Wishcycling, or putting stuff in your curbside bin that can’t actually be recycled that way, can gunk up the works at already overtaxed recycling centers.
Check with your local recycling collector, which will typically list the number for hard plastics that you can put in your bin and what you can’t.
To dispose of other plastics, you may have additional local options. The EPA recommends Earth911 to locate drop-off and pickup options outside your curbside program.
Recycling paper and cardboard has environmental costs (from transporting and distributing them, as well as the reclamation process), but the materials are more likely to be recycled than plastic.
Most paper and cardboard used in shipping can go into your recycling bin for local pickup, with a few exceptions.
Most recycling facilities can handle a little extra tape on boxes (the EPA even says envelopes with plastic windows are okay), but remove as much adhesive plastic—tape, shipping labels, label holders—as you can when you break them down to put in your bin. (Throw away the tape.)
Although shredded paper is recyclable, it loses recycling value, and some curbside programs don’t accept it. Local recycling programs have different rules for shredded paper: For example, some will ask you to put it in a paper bag, some a clear plastic bag, and others don’t accept it at all.
Unfortunately, paper items with coatings can’t be recycled. If you want to delay their trip to the landfill, you can try to reuse them.
Some products may come in cardboard boxes with additional materials affixed inside with adhesives, like molded plastic or Styrofoam. If you want to recycle these boxes, you must remove the other materials first.
If something is technically recyclable but your curbside program doesn’t accept it, it’s better for recycling programs if you throw it away than to put it in your bin and hope for the best.
But curbside isn’t the only recycling and reusing option. Some programs, like the Pacific Northwest–based Ridwell, offer a subscription service for less commonly recyclable items. The EPA recommends Earth911 to explore local pickup and drop-off options such as a mail center, municipal waste