Greenwich Wants You To Remove This Item From The Recycling Stream

GREENWICH, CT — First Selectman Fred Camillo is reminding residents to remove black plastic takeout food containers from the town's recycling stream.

Camillo said in his weekly newsletter to residents last week that the containers are considered trash, and have been removed from the statewide list of acceptable recyclable items. Camillo explained that optical scanners are used to separate plastic, paper, glass and cardboard at recycling centers, and the scanners can't recognize black plastics as plastic.

"According to the state, if black plastic is found in the bales of recycled materials they are considered contaminated and will not be processed," Camillo said.

Black plastic plant pots should also be tossed in the garbage instead of the recycling bin.

More information on what is acceptable to recycle in Greenwich can be found here.

More details on how black plastic recycling is impacting the state can be found here.