Pizza boxes are somewhat controversial in our house. For years we’ve been told that we can’t recycle them because they’re covered in grease. I once watched a video of a guy who claimed to discover the “greatest pizza box on Earth” at Eataly in New York. That box could be recycled because it construction repelled grease. My son also interned for the DPW and was adamant about not recycling pizza boxes.
But now the controversy is gone! We can recycle them! According to Green Newton, technology has changed and we can now take the embarrassing detritus of a lazy dinner and put them in the green bins rather than the blue. Just remove any food waste and plastic liners, and throw them in.
You still need to eat the pizza first.
Hallelujah!
Thanks for posting this Chuck. Thank goodness for new technology.
I was very excited to see this! I am an avid recycler and never liked putting pizza boxes in the trash. I know how important it is to follow the recycling rules, so as not to “contaminate” the recycling. I cringe at some of the things I have seen poking out of those green bins.
I’ve been around long enough to when Mayor Cohen launched the recycling program with the slogan “If you can rip it, you can recycle it.” (I even urged his honor to rip up an issue of the TAB during a NewTV press conference to demonstrate, but he thought I was trying to trick him into something, not sure what, and he refused….but that’s a different story!)
Clearly those aren’t the guidelines any more. If someone in the know what’s to post them, that could be useful.
The city has an app, Recycle Right, which has an ask feature that answers what goes in the blue bin and what can be recycled. Also gives a notification for trash pickup, delays etc. It is pretty helpful.
See that you do. The last thing one wants is a Newton City Councilor going through one’s trash looking for violators.
They will do it too.