Really dumb recycling question

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

I'm shredding years worth of old financial docs for recycling but discover that I don't have any paper bags to put the shreds in. I read on the S'ville recycling site a few weeks ago that plastic bags *aren't* supposed to go in recycling. Or at least I thought I read that.

Have I completely got it wrong? Can I put my paper shreds in a plastic trash bag and dump that in my Big Blue Bin?


(see - told you it was a dumb question... )

Comments

[ron_newman]

Somerville official trash procedures say:

Shredded Paper - can be placed with recycling if it stored in a clear see-through plastic bag

That would not be an ordinary plastic trash bag. If you don't have this special kind of bag, my suggestion is to go to a supermarket and grab a few paper bags for this purpose.

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

Ah. See through. Missed that. Thanks.

[avjudge]

Oops, ever since we got the big bins I've been dumping my shredder contents straight in there!

[ron_newman]

I've been interpreting it to mean, if you must use a plastic bag, use this kind only.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Don't the shreddings fly all over the neighborhood when the truck dumps the recycle bin? And get stuck to the inside of the bin?

[avjudge]

I don't see them around the neighborhood, so they seem to dump just fine. A few may stick due to static, but since the inside of my bin should be dry (I wash or at least rinse & dry my recyclables before dumping) and there's usually already stuff in there when I dump the shredder so it's only the barest few that cling to the sides or filter to the bottom.