# Why doesn't my recycler accept cereal boxes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941 "2019-07-12T00:57:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/1 "2019-07-12T00:57:41Z")
They take cardboard in general but specifically say they don’t take cereal boxes. Why is that? I have seen a few boxes that say “BHT added to packaging as a preservative,” but not commonly, and it seems that would be benign if any of it migrated into the cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/2 "2019-07-12T01:07:27Z")
That type of cardboard or specifically cereal boxes? I recycle all that kind of stuff. For instance, snack cracker boxes. Same stuff as cereal boxes. That BHT is probably pumped into the plastic bag as a gas. Not in the cardboard. That cardboard is similar or the same as shirt board. What they fold your shirt around in the package. It may contain too much chemical binders per weight to be useful as a recycle product. This varies greatly form one place to another. Some places want more user sorting to be done. Others will do more of it at the recycle center. At my location, they are very lenient in what goes in the bin and how it is packaged or not. Other places make you work much harder to get it into the bin. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/3 "2019-07-12T01:56:30Z")
Don’t put too much thought into it. It is likely that much of the recycling you put on the curb, goes to landfills anyway. [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/climate/recycling-landfills-plastic-papers.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/climate/recycling-landfills-plastic-papers.html) > **[Americans' plastic recycling is dumped in landfills, investigation shows](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/21/us-plastic-recycling-landfills)** > > Consumers’ efforts to be eco-friendly go to waste as many communities find themselves with nowhere to send their refuse > **[The US Recycling System Is Garbage](https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2019-4-july-august/feature/us-recycling-system-garbage)** > > China doesn't want our crap anymore, and who can blame them? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/4 "2019-07-12T02:26:54Z")
Here are the details as published: > [@Republic Services](#): > > **Acceptable Items** > Recycling > Aerosol Spray Cans > Aluminum Cans > Cardboard > Glass Bottles > Household Plastic 1 > Household Plastic 2 > Household Plastic 3 > Household Plastic 4 > Household Plastic 5 > Household Plastic 6 > Household Plastic 7 > Magazines > Mail > Paper > Paperboard > Phonebooks > > **Unacceptable Items** > Recycling > Aluminum Foil > Creal Boxes [sic] > Plastic Bags > Steel Cans > Styrofoam Containers > Tissue Paper > Wax Coated Cardboard ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/5 "2019-07-12T02:34:07Z")
My guess is that too many people are not removing the plastic liner (perhaps even leaving food residue) in the boxes, which interferes with the recycling process. Disallowing cereal boxes solves the problem and doesn’t reduce the amount of cardboard significantly. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/6 "2019-07-12T03:15:38Z")
Looking at the list of unacceptable items, I’m really amazed that aluminum foil and steel cans are on that list. Metal is one of the few things that is easily recycled and has been for centuries. Does not make any sense not to recycle that stuff. As far as boxes go, I’ve heard that they usually don’t want boxes that frozen food comes in. Those have something added to them (plastic?) that make them non-recyclable. Pizza boxes are also frequently not wanted, since those usually have food residue (oil, if nothing else) or else they have some additive that keeps oil from soaking through them. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/7 "2019-07-12T03:46:07Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Here are the details as published: The recycling in my community accepts all these items, even the “unacceptable” ones. What are they doing differently? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/8 "2019-07-12T03:57:07Z")
Don’t know what the deal would be with steel cans, but I’m guessing that aluminum foil is too likely to have food residue in it, and may also be coated (or at least contain) some non-recyclable substance. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/9 "2019-07-12T04:43:48Z")
Aluminum (foil or otherwise) is melted down to recycle. Any food residue or other organic substance is going to burn away when that happens. If there’s some other metallic element that’s there, then I could see a problem. But I’m pretty sure that foil doesn’t contain any. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/10 "2019-07-12T06:18:10Z")
OK, I found out why recyclers may not accept aluminum foil. [Here](https://livegreen.recyclebank.com/column/because-you-asked/is-aluminum-foil-recyclable), they say it’s because the food residue on foil could contaminate other recyclables. OK, that’s understandable, although it’s another reason not to combine all the recyclables in one bin. ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/11 "2019-07-12T12:10:53Z")
I’ve worked in the food industry and worked for companies that used this types of boxes. In the industry they’re not considered cardboard, they’re considered paperboard. Cardboard is multiple layers with a wavy layer in between for strength. Paperboard is a single layer. I’ve never heard that the “cardboard (or paperboard) contains plastic” or BHT. From what I know there is BHT in the plastic cereal bags hence “always re-roll the inner bag”. Your cereal stays fresh much longer. I suspect the issue is they have too much printing ink on the paperboard. Cereal boxes have one side fully covered with ink. Cardboard usually has very little print. I’d guess the ink on the paperboard interferes with the recycling process. Whoever is buying it from them only wants pure cardboard, not printed paperboard. It sounds to me like the municipality is being very responsible and not collecting items they can’t sell downstream. As noted in an earlier post, many many cities just collect lots of stuff, sell what they can, then landfill the balance. It makes taxpayers feel much better about themselves and their government since they perceive they’re recycling more and their local government cares about the environment (we’re green, re-elect us!!). The big problem with this is that it costs way more to collect non-recyclables in recycling trucks, then sort it and then load the unwanted stuff back into garbage trucks and then ship it back to landfills. A _huge_ waste of taxpayer dollars to accomplish nothing. Congrats to your local politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/12 "2019-07-12T13:39:34Z")
But many food products (frozen foods, microwave pizza in bags, etc) is packed in paperboard boxes that are entirely covered in ink. I flatten all of these boxes and put them in the recycling. If what you’re saying about the amount of ink being a probem, it would be a problem for all paperboard food boxes. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/13 "2019-07-12T14:10:06Z")
> [@GMANCANADA](#): > > I suspect the issue is they have too much printing ink on the paperboard. Cereal boxes have one side fully covered with ink. Cardboard usually has very little print. This is a very sensible explanation, although I wonder why they single out cereal boxes, instead of saying “food boxes”. Pancake mix, cookies, crackers, and taco shells are all packaged in those kinds of boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/14 "2019-07-12T14:16:59Z")
> [@am77494](#): > > much of the recycling you put on the curb, goes to landfills anyway Yes. The US used to send most of our recycle collections to China. They don’t want it anymore. There aren’t many companies to take and recycle waste anymore, as its too costly. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/15 "2019-07-12T14:18:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The recycling in my community accepts all these items, even the “unacceptable” ones. What are they doing differently? They are sending it to the landfill. So they don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/16 "2019-07-12T14:28:53Z")
No, “cardboard” is the stuff cereal boxes are made of. Or, you know, the stuff cards are made of. Corrugated “cardboard” isn’t even cardboard at all, just thick paper, folded up and glued together in a particular way. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/17 "2019-07-12T14:35:56Z")
You have a recycling system that takes polystyrene (plastic 6). Count your blessings and move on. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/18 "2019-07-12T15:29:21Z")
Cardboard in general, and thin cardboard in particular, is practically non-recyclable because it’s made from the leftovers of other recycled paper. It’s essentially mush with no fiber that’s been run between rollers and then dried. I’m a little surprised you can actually print anything on it, without it falling apart again. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/19 "2019-07-12T18:02:47Z")
Our recycling takes cereal boxes but no longer takes single use glass bottles or plastic bags. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941/20 "2019-07-13T01:28:51Z")
Where I live they make us pay $2 per trash bag. Recycling is free and unlimited. The recycling rules sound like Kafka and Joyce got drunk and wrote an instruction manual. I find that I can recycle almost anything if I don’t think too hard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-my-recycler-accept-cereal-boxes/836941.md?page=2)