On March 30, the city posted online that up to 30% of the material recycled in Claremont is actually trash.

With the best of intentions, residents often discard non-recyclable items in their blue recycling containers. This process is known as “aspirational recycling” or “wish-cycling” and is less sustainable and more costly than sorting appropriately, according to the city.

“The cost of recycling is increasing and contamination compounds costs even further. Items such as plastic bags and plastic-wrapped magazines must be sorted and removed at the recycling facility and then re-routed to the landfill,” the city wrote. “This results in added processing costs and additional transportation costs and emissions to re-route the material to the appropriate facility. Sorting appropriately reduces cost and helps the environment.”

The city reminds residents of the following recycling tips:

• Ensure all the items placed in the recycling bin are clean and dry, with no food or product residue, and place recyclables loosely in the container for service.
• Focus on getting back to the basics of recycling by only recycling these materials: plastic and recyclable bottles, jars, and jugs (in reference to Resin Codes #1 and #2), in addition to aluminum, tin cans, mixed paper, cardboard, and glass jars.
• Recyclables cannot be bagged in plastic trash bags. Bags full of recyclables will be discarded as trash at the recycling facility.

For questions regarding proper recycling, please contact the Community Services Department at (909) 399-5431.