Frequently Asked Questions

Try out the interactive online Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to learn more about MRFs.

Previous sorting machines raised concerns with exploding bottles and flying caps during compaction. Saint Anthony's Haulers now punch them with spikes before compaction, so the caps can stay on the pop bottle.

Yes, paper with plastic "windows" are accepted, such as envelopes, tissue boxes and spaghetti boxes.

This is because a hauler, business, or even city hall can get a better price at another company (such as Pioneer Papers or RockTenn) if they pre-sort a certain material. The best way to be informed is to directly contact your hauler.

Material recovery facilities prefer that recycling be collected with a paper bag. If plastic is used, it is recommended that the recyclables be emptied from the plastic bag when placed in the final recycling bin/dumpster for its pickup. The plastic bag in this case would either go to the trash, or to Cub Foods' plastic bag collection (if clean). Keeping plastic bags out of the main recycling stream avoids them getting caught in the sorting equipment, and avoids that entire bag being sent to the trash.

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Shredded paper can still be recycled but needs a little bit more care to prevent the small pieces from getting lost or harming the sorting system. Please put all shredded paper in a sealed brown paper bag labeled "Shredded Paper" and place that inside your bin.

Packaging for Tennis balls is recyclable, however there's a small chance it wouldn't make it through the sorting system. To ensure that it makes it through the system you can cut the metal ring off the top and recycle both in your single-sort recycling. And remember, the City collects old tennis balls at the Central Park tennis courts.

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