Author: Winneshiek Waste

DON’T recycle wrapping paper or tissue paper!

1. Wrapping paper has very little actual paper content and the coatings make it impossible to recycle.

2. Even wrapping paper that says it is recyclable should not be recycled because recycling managers cannot easily distinguish between recyclable and non-recyclable papers. If a load of paper contains too much wrapping paper, the entire load will be rejected and sent to the landfill.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We are especially thankful for the recycling center staff and the Winneshiek County Sanitary Landfill team and everyone that works in waste management.

As we head into the holiday season, we’ll be sharing weekly posts about the Do’s and Don’ts of seasonal recycling. As you can imagine, there is a lot of waste produced during this time of the year, so please follow these tips to ensure that what you put in the recycling bins can be recycled.

Did you know that you can compost your jack-o’-lantern when you need to throw it out? For folks that compost at home, this is a great addition to your pile! The pumpkin will decompose faster if you can break it up into smaller chunks, but even if you don’t take this step, it will still fall apart over time! Mix the pumpkin with your compost and let the microbes do their work!