A Posting by Somerville City Councilor Stephanie Hirsch Regarding Recycling of Cartons

Here’s something I learned last night… Cardboard milk or juice cartons can no longer be recycled. The City’s staff person described an activity that he referred to as “Wishcycling”, which is along the lines of: “We put out our recycling and hope there’s someone, somewhere who will find a use for our recycled items… but increasingly there is no market for those materials.” It costs almost twice as much per ton ($257.78 vs. $155.96) to recycle our waste instead of sending it to an incinerator in Saugus or to landfills (and those destinations are also beginning to limit intake or close). Though we used to be able to recycle the milk cartons, they are no longer accepted. You can see what’s recyclable here: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/dpw-sanitation/somerville-trash-recycling-information/waste-wizard.

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