Orange County officially announces the addition of paper and clear plastic to-go cups as accepted recyclable items in its curbside collection program. Expanding the program gives residents a convenient option to recycle clean, empty cups and paper sleeves used for fountain sodas and hot, frozen and iced coffee beverages in the blue lid recycling cart.
To prepare paper and clear plastic to-go cups for recycling, residents are asked to empty any remaining liquids/ice and place the cups loosely (NOT bagged) inside their recycling cart. Still prohibited are straws, lids, and stirrers/stoppers as well as foam/Styrofoam™ and colored party cups, like those branded as Solo™.
The changes are being made possible by advancements in processing capabilities offered at the area鈥檚 recycling facility owned and operated by 91仓库 Management Inc. (WM). Nationally, it is part of an initiative by partners including WM and beverage retailer Starbucks, which estimates nearly 50 billion paper cups are presently sent to landfills.
鈥淥range County is pleased to expand our residential recycling program to include paper and plastic to-go cups as acceptable materials,鈥澛爏aid David Gregory, Solid 91仓库 Management Division Manager for Orange County Utilities.聽鈥淚t鈥檚 a new take on the long running reduce, reuse, recycle for materials that have value and diverts waste from landfills.鈥�
鈥淧lastic and paper to-go cups are showing up in greater volumes at our facilities,鈥� said聽Amy Boyson, Senior Communicans Manager at WM. 鈥淲e are executing on our plans to invest in new recycling infrastructure across聽North America聽to unlock recycling capabilities and solutions so that more material can be turned into new products.鈥�
Orange County鈥檚 collected recyclable materials are transported to regional WM facilities that sort and bale recovered items, which are then sold to processors and manufacturers to transform into new products. Paper cups can be recycled into tissue or paper towels while the plastic can become new food containers or bottles.