Jared Rhodes of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation answers our pressing questions .
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY : What happens if we don ’ t rinse out recyclables ? ( We ’ re looking at you , peanut butter eaters .) JARED RHODES : It increases the chance that your materials and perhaps those of your neighbors whose yours are traveling with will get rejected by our inspectors , will not get recycled and will instead be landfilled . RIM : Do we have to take off the sticky labels on cardboard boxes and grocery delivery bags in order to recycle them ? JR : No .
RIM : My trash or recycling bin is broken / was stolen / blew away . How do I get a new one ? JR : The best place to start is usually to contact your local Department of Public Works or property management office . RIM : What ’ s the weirdest thing someone ’ s accidentally recycled ? JR : You name it we ’ ve seen it , but if I had to pick just one , I would go with the foosball table that showed up this spring .
Code of Plastics
Turns out , the numbers and letters on the bottom of your plastic products — resin codes , for the uninitiated — are useless in Rhode Island . Neither 1 PETE ( polyethylene terephthalate ) nor 6 PS ( polystyrene ) will save you when it comes to our single-stream recycling program , which sorts items by density and only accepts plastic containers — say it with us : plastic containers ! — like cups , jugs , cartons and bottles . Also worth noting : Small plastic items , like utensils , bottlecaps and containers with fewer than 1.5 fluid ounces , are sifted out and head to the landfill , anyway , so cut the recycling folks a break and trash them yourself . – C . N .
THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE : COURTESY OF RIRRC / INSTAGRAM AND GETTY IMAGES .
Bottled Away
Rhode Island lawmakers have long attempted to pass statewide bottle deposit bills , which help keep containers out of the landfill by offering 5- or 10-cent refunds on those returned to redemption centers , reverse vending machines and retail stores . But industry groups oppose the legislation — the latest version in 2020 — and all have failed . Rhode Island and New Hampshire are the only New England states without bottle deposit bills .
46 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MARCH 2021