Packaging like glass bottles and jars, paper boxes, bags and cartons, metal, such as steel and aluminum, and plastic bottles and jugs can be recycled. Products like newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, printing and writing paper can also be recycled. In 1998, all of us who live in Ontario produced about 4 million tonnes of household waste, but we diverted 1,255,000 tonnes of recyclable and compostable materials through our municipal recycling and composting programs. That was 9% more than we recycled in 1997. 95% of the stuff we put into our Blue Box/Blue Bag gets recycled into new products and packaging! The remaining 5% doesn’t get recycled because it is too contaminated with non-recyclable materials.  An example of a contaminant is window glass or a drinking glass, both of which are not recyclable in your recycling box or bag.  That’s why it’s really important to recycle only what your municipality accepts in the program.

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