Reducing waste during the holidays

AccuWeather

Waste Management's Brent Bell was live on the AccuWeather Network on Dec. 20 to discuss how you can reduce your waste during the holidays.

Transcript

00:00Yeah, the holidays bring good times with family and friends, but according to the EPA, between

00:05Thanksgiving and New Year's, the average household generates 25% more waste.

00:11It makes sense.

00:12More people are home, right?

00:13Yeah, I believe it.

00:14Here with tips on how to reduce and recycle more is Brent Bell.

00:17He's a vice president of recycling for Waste Management Recycling Services.

00:22Thanks so much for being with us.

00:24Thank you for having me.

00:25All right.

00:26So when it comes to the holidays, what are the types of waste that you see most and can

00:29much of it be recycled?

00:32Yeah, so during the recycling, a lot of times people are getting together with their families

00:36and there's a lot of gift wrapping, there's a lot of cooking going on.

00:40At WM, we looked at recycling, making it simple, so paper, cardboard, bottles and cans, they're

00:47allowed in nearly every program.

00:49There are some items, though, like Christmas lights and extension cords.

00:52We don't want that in the recycling bin.

00:53Those should be thrown away.

00:56Now, what about recycling, let's say from gift giving, like wrapping paper and bags?

01:03Can they all be recycled as well?

01:05Yeah, that's always a good part to clarify that a lot of consumers are finding really

01:10want more education around recycling.

01:12When it comes to gift wrapping, if you want to do sustainable gift wrapping, really use

01:16the plain craft type bags or paper.

01:20If you go to the glittery bag, which are really, they're fun to see, but they're not recycling

01:24friendly at all.

01:25If the wrapping paper or the bags have a lot of glitter, a lot of lamination on it, not

01:29recycling friendly.

01:30So really stick with the craft bags for more recycle and sustainable solutions.

01:35Or be like my grandmom who made us save the paper and she would rewrap our gifts next

01:39or the glitter bags, you can recycle them each year as a present.

01:44Right, just use them more.

01:45All right.

01:46What about the kitchen?

01:47Any tips on how to sort and what can be reused or can't be reused, I should say, sorry.

01:53Yeah.

01:54So definitely in the kitchen, I'm recycling, you know, whether it's your sour cream dishes,

01:58your butter dishes, you know, we just say, you know, rinse out, make sure they're clean

02:02and dry.

02:03But most of the plastics, and I know it's kind of confusing because they always have

02:06numbers on the bottom.

02:08Number one, two and fives are very recycled friendly.

02:12And those you'll find in terms of milk jugs, detergent bottles and water bottles are obviously

02:18always recyclable with the number one at the bottom of those.

02:21So those are all very recycled friendly plastics to put in the bin.

02:25You know, I have a good question because I've heard stuff on other programs that a lot of

02:30the plastic bottles end up not being recycled.

02:34Whether that's true or not, I don't know.

02:36But it gets to my next question.

02:38As a society, what can we do to improve our recycling efforts?

02:43Yeah, so definitely education on it.

02:46We have programs called Recycled Right that helps consumers know what goes in the bin.

02:50We did a study in 2024, just trying to connect closer with the consumer.

02:55And they're saying they, you know, there's a lot of confusion around plastics, right?

02:59And your point is a good one.

03:01Most consumers know that the average water bottle or soda bottle can be recycled.

03:05But yet, the recycling rate is like three out of every 10 get recycled.

03:09So the other seven, unfortunately, end up in the landfill.

03:12So really trying to educate folks on those materials are really good.

03:16And you're seeing a lot of brands that are buying those materials back to make it back

03:19into a new bottle again.

03:20So kind of the bottle-to-bottle recycling, and the brands are supporting that with their

03:24sustainability commitment.

03:25So really want to make sure that consumers are educated on what happens with those

03:29materials after they put them in the bin and how they have this next second life is

03:33really great.

03:34I love it.

03:35Brett Bell, Vice President of Recycling for WM, thanks so much for joining us here on

03:39Accurate Early. And happy holidays to you.

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