Comments on: The Pizza Box Mystery

By: Howard

Howard — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:38:28 +0000

I also would like to add that grease from hamburger wrappers (some fast food places like Five Guys use a paper wrapper rather than a box) makes the paper non-recyclable. The government should immediately institute an oversight process whereby separate receptacle containers are located at every fast-food restaurant in the nation. In this manner, customers can throw their grease-contaminant waste in one, and regular non-grease waste in the other. This will enable us to recycle correctly and to help to save the whales, and the polar bear, and the planet. Fast food establishments found in violation of the grease-separation law should not be allowed to apply for Obama-care waivers.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:25:38 +0000

Organics for compost is becoming much more widespread, and the pizza boxes and wax paper are both accepted in commercial compost programs–not backyard systems. Contact your community and start to inquire about organics collection–eventually with enough calls they will get a system going . . . our community has!

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 01 May 2011 21:18:55 +0000

WAIT!
Check with your local recycler before you start throwing pizza boxes in the trash!
In Monroe County, NY, pizza boxes ARE accepted for recycling (and have been for a few years):
http://www.monroecounty.gov/des-residentialrecycling.php
I’m not saying the information about soiled cardboard is untrue. Monroe County may have a separate process to recycle them; they may compost them; or, they may have found a company that has another use for them. Either way, there’s a reason they’re not being sent straight to a landfill.

By: Jane Leisure

Jane Leisure — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:34:19 +0000

Hello Lori:

I work for ABS Materials Inc (www.absmaterials.com). We make a material called Osorb, which could very easily clean the oils out of pizza boxes and other food contaminated items. Using Osorb to clean the contaminated batches could save all people involved a lot of time and money. If you are interested in learning more about what we do, feel free to contact me.

Best,
Jane

By: Necromas

Necromas — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:20:52 +0000

Recycling just doesn’t seem efficient yet for paper products, partly because of shit like this, and partly just because of all the other costs involved. IIRC without the government funding it is still more expensive and lower quality to make recycled paper products than fresh ones. And paper is a renewable resource that bio-degrades practically instantly. It just seems silly that we’re losing money (the most important resource) just because of some notion that recycling is inherently the better option.

Ultimately it’s not about saving trees, it’s about saving resources, and until recycled products can be cheaper than the originals (which would be the case if there was a problem getting more wood to use), there’s no economic reason to do it.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:07:00 +0000

I put them in my worm farm. Composting worms don’t mind a small amount of grease in their diet.

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 04:14:18 +0000

The recycling companies should create some cardboard sorting jobs, instead of throwing all that money away.

By: sin

sin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:16:07 +0000

I am wondering why people do not have these as alternative solution?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQBjJjpkjl0

By: Endame

Endame — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:09:31 +0000

Maybe someone should write this on the recyclables containers because I’ve never heard such a thing and have certainly thrown away the occasional pizza box in the recyclables can from time to time.

By: Speaker-to-Animals

Speaker-to-Animals — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:36:20 +0000

(I meant to say, the waste management program in the region I live in has this.)