30 Waste-Sorting Items People Always Get Wrong
A useful rule of thumb: if an animal could eat it, it's food waste; if not, it's general trash. That covers half the confusion — here is the other half, the 30 items people search for at the bin. (Local rules vary; check your area's guidance for the final word.)
Looks like food waste, but goes in general trash
Hard or fibrous scraps can't be processed into feed or compost.
- Chicken and other bones
- Eggshells
- Clam, oyster and other shellfish shells
- Crab and shrimp shells
- Walnut, chestnut and other hard nut shells
- Hard fruit pits (peach, persimmon, avocado)
- Onion and garlic skins, corn husks and cobs
- Tea bags and coffee grounds (varies by area)
- Thick fermented pastes and very salty sauces
Confusing, but actually food waste
Soft scraps that break down go in food waste.
- Watermelon and melon rinds (cut small)
- Citrus, banana and apple peels
- Spoiled rice, side dishes and bread (drain the liquid)
- Fish flesh and innards (bones are general trash)
Fake recyclables — actually general trash
Things people want to recycle but usually can't.
- Grease-soaked pizza box parts (recycle only the clean parts)
- Stained instant-noodle cups that won't rinse clean
- Broken glass, mirrors and ceramics — wrap and put in general trash
- Thermal-paper receipts
- Mixed-material plastics like pens and toothbrushes
- Gel ice packs — whole into general trash, never down the drain
- Disposable masks
Recyclable — if you prep them right
A few seconds of prep keeps these in the recycling stream.
- PET bottles — empty, remove label, crush, cap back on
- Milk and aseptic cartons — rinse, flatten, keep separate from mixed paper
- Cans — rinse; puncture butane and spray cans to release gas
- Glass bottles — remove caps; deposit bottles can be returned for refunds
- Styrofoam boxes — remove tape and labels, clean only
- Plastic bags and film — collected clean, in film-only recycling
- Batteries and fluorescent lamps — dedicated collection boxes
Tired of googling at the bin?
The Trash Day app ships with a 99-item sorting dictionary covering exactly these cases — searchable offline, right when you're standing at the bin.
Register your local collection days too, and the evening-before reminder plus the color calendar answer both 'when' and 'what'.
A 99-item sorting dictionary in your pocket
Get it free on Google Play