Recycling

Soapbox statement: I, personally, feel that everyone should recycle/reuse everything possible to cut down on waste and damage to the environment. When recycled materials are used in place of virgin materials during manufacturing, we avoid the environmental damage caused by mining for metals, drilling for petroleum, and harvesting trees. Producing recycled white paper creates 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution than producing paper from virgin fibers. Using recycled cans instead of extracting ore to make aluminum cans produces 95% less air pollution and 97% less water pollution. Recycling and re-manufacturing are 194 times more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than land filling and virgin manufacturing.

Ok, that's my standpoint. BUT Recycling is imperative in The Netherlands to cut down on the trash you pay to have hauled away. In most towns, household trash is collected only once every other week and you are restricted to what you can fit in one trash bin. So out of necessity you must recycle.

What can you recycle? Most towns in The Netherlands pickup "Green Waste" (organic kitchen and yard waste) every other week (in between you garbage pickups). Most towns also pickup paper and cardboard once or twice a month and plastics once or twice a month. There will also be a glass recycle station in your town, possibly a clothes bin and maybe even a cooking oil receptacle. Lets look at things one at a time.

These are the rules for my gemeente (municipality) but they should be similar in your town.

Paper and cardboard (Oud papier en karton): Paper and cardboard needs to be clean and dry. Bundle the material but no heavier than 12 kilograms (a little over 28 pounds). I reuse paper grocery bags to hold my paper for recycle.Make sure that there is no plastic (tape, envelope windows, etc) mixed in and do not include waxed paper products such as milk cartons and juice containers.

Green Waste (GFT-aval): These bins are loaded by an "arm" from the truck so make sure there is 18 inches or so all around your container. Use the correct container, in my town they are green. You can include all organic kitchen and yard waste such as leaves, tree and bush trimmings, grass, weeds, etc. Do not include large bones or liquid fats and oils. Do not include cat litter. Do not pack the material in the bin, it has to be able to slide out when the truck turns it upside down. The lid must be closed completely. The bin cannot weigh more than 80 kilos (about 195 lbs)

Plastic (Plastic Heroes): You must use the special bags provided for plastic recycling. You can find a list of places to pick up these special bags at this LINK.What goes in the bag? Pretty much anything that is household plastic. What cannot go in the bag are: toys, plastic packaging with food or other product still in the container, plastic containers that held chemicals and solvents, expanded foam products such as fast food packaging, Styrofoam of any sort, plastic with aluminum foil or other non-plastic material attached.

The following items are things you will have to take somewhere. Most towns collect glass and cooking oil. Other stuff can be taken to the "Sort Center" at USAG Schinnen.

Glass: Glass is recycled as "White" (Witte Glas) glass, which is really clear glass, and "Colored" (Bunte Glas) glass. Porcelain, china, and terracotta is not glass. There is a glass bin a USAG Schinnen if you cannot find a recycle site near your house.

Metal: USAG Schinnen has containers for metal material. Do not throw appliances in these bins. Every time I dump my cans in the bin I see stuff that only a completely clueless or uncaring person would throw in the bin. This junk has to be pulled out by the Sort Center workers and that just isn't right. Microwave ovens must be taken to the sort center when the top is open so they can be handled by the workers there. The magnetron in the microwave is the problem. They take microwaves, they just have to handle them separately. 

Batteries: You can drop off used batteries (AA, AAA, C, D cells and the square 9-volts batteries) at the commissary and the Sort Center. Do not throw your batteries in the general trash. Batteries contain many toxic materials that severely pollute the environment. These materials can and should be extracted from the batteries and reused.You drop off car batteries at the Sort Center but be advised that you get money back at the Car Care Center if you trade in an old car battery when you buy a new one.

Hazardous Waste: You can drop off very small amounts of hazardous waste in the Red receptacle at the Sort Center lower area or wait until the top section is open to drop it off there.

Motor Oil: If you change your own oil (from your car) you can drop off the used motor oil at the Sort Center when the top part is open. Make sure the oil is in a sturdy container. I reuse the large plastic containers that I buy cat litter in for this purpose.

Wood: If you have large wooden items to dispose of they can take those at the Sort center. Remove all non-wood material (nails, nuts&bolts, screws, hinges, etc.) and recycle those as metal waste.

USAG Sort Center:

These are some of the bins located on the bottom part of the sort center. They are available 24 hours a day but they take them up to the top area when that is open to empty and clean them.

This is the top portion of the sort center. If you have any questions ask the man in the booth to the left. He does not speak much English, which seems pretty stupid to me to hire a guy that speaks limited English to be a customer service person. But he'll figure out what you need. He is responsible for this site and will keep an eye on you so do not try to cheat and dump stuff you shouldn't.

 These are the hours for the top portion of the Sort Center.

I recycle everything I can. As a result, I only have to put my trash bin out for collection once every other month. That saves the US Army money, they get charged every time your bin is collected, and saves the environment.