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.
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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.