What happens to the paper, metal, glass, plastic and aluminum after it is collected from my house and how are they separated?

Recycling is picked up at curbside by your trash collector and brought to the Harford County Recycling Transfer Station at the Harford Waste Disposal Center, where they are loaded onto tractor trailers and transported to a processing facility in Baltimore County. The segregated material is then sent to secondary market vendors who process the material into re-usable products. Plastic is used to manufacture new containers, carpeting, and fleece clothing. Paper is used to make newsprint. Cardboard is used to make new cardboard and other packaging material. Glass is used to make new glass containers and fiberglass insulation. Aluminum cans are used to make new aluminum cans. Tin cans are used to make new steel products.

Show All Answers

1. What is single stream recycling?
2. Do I need trash collection to have curbside recycling collection?
3. How do I know what day of the week my recycling will be picked up by my trash collector?
4. Why doesn’t Harford County provide recycling containers to residents?
5. I was only provided with one recycling sticker to place on my container to designate it for recycling. What if I have more than one container?
6. Why can’t I recycle plastic bags at curbside? Where can they be recycled?
7. What type of plastics can I put out for recycling?
8. What happens to the paper, metal, glass, plastic and aluminum after it is collected from my house and how are they separated?
9. What do I do if I need more than one recycling container; is there a limit?
10. Can residents living in apartments and condominiums recycle?
11. Who do I call if my recycling wasn’t picked up?
12. Do I have to rinse my recyclables?
13. Do I have to take labels off of containers?
14. Why should we recycle when it’s easier just to landfill?
15. Will more people recycle now?
16. Do you have any drop-off locations?
17. What do you charge to drop off recycling?
18. What are the advantages to single stream?
19. What exactly can I put into my single stream container?
20. Can I put grass clippings and tree limbs into my recycling container?
21. How can I reduce the amount of catalogs I receive in the mail?
22. Are coroplast (polypropylene) campaign signs recyclable?