On World Environment Day, it’s worth taking a look at a simple yet often underestimated question: What actually happens to our waste when we sort it for recycling?
Many people sort their waste but still wonder, “Does it even make a difference?” This is precisely where persistent myths take hold. Some of them sound plausible, but they’re technically incorrect. And they prevent recyclable materials from staying in the cycle.
Myth 1: “Plastic is plastic—you can put it all in the yellow bag.”
That sounds logical, but it’s wrong. The yellow bag and the yellow bin are not for general plastic collection. They are for empty packaging that isn’t made of paper, cardboard, or glass: for example, plastic cups, plastic wrap, tin cans, aluminum trays, or beverage cartons.
A broken plastic toy, a toothbrush, a clothes hanger, or an old plastic container are also made of plastic, but they are not packaging. They are considered so-called non-packaging items of the same material. In municipalities with recycling bins, some of these items may go in there; otherwise, depending on their size, they belong in the general waste, bulky waste, or at the recycling center.
Myth 2: “Sorting glass waste is pointless—it all gets mixed together in the truck anyway.”
It’s easy to get that impression when you see how glass recycling bins are emptied. In reality, however, the glass isn’t simply mixed back together. Modern collection vehicles have separate compartments for clear, green, and brown glass. The colors remain separated from collection all the way to the glassworks.
This separation is important because color is crucial for new glass. Clear glass is particularly sensitive: even small amounts of colored glass can compromise its quality. Green glass is more tolerant of color impurities. That’s why blue, red, or other colored glass bottles belong in the green glass container.
Ceramics, porcelain, drinking glasses, and heat-resistant glass also do not belong in the glass recycling. They have different material properties and can disrupt the melting process. For effective glass recycling, the shards need to be as homogeneous as possible.
Myth 3: “It’s not worth sorting—everything gets burned anyway.”
This myth also persists. The truth is: Not everything gets recycled. Incorrectly sorted items and non-recyclable packaging are often used for energy recovery. However, the claim that everything gets burned anyway is false. According to the Federal Environment Agency, more than half of the contents of the yellow bin went to recycling; for plastic packaging, more than 70 percent of the volume was recently sent for material recovery for the first time.
The better we sort at home, the more efficiently sorting facilities can operate. A simple example is the yogurt cup: the plastic cup, aluminum lid, and paper sleeve are made of different materials. If everything remains firmly attached, sorting becomes more difficult. If the aluminum lids and wrappers are separated beforehand, the materials are more likely to end up in the appropriate recycling stream. Rinsing is not necessary for this; the packaging should simply be empty or “spoon-clean.”
Waste separation is therefore not a symbolic act, but the first technical step in the recycling process.
Myth 4: “A packaged cucumber is always worse for the environment.”
At first glance, a cucumber sealed in plastic wrap seems like a prime example of unnecessary packaging. But packaging must always be evaluated in the context of the product.
A locally grown cucumber that is sold and consumed quickly often doesn’t need any packaging. However, for delicate produce with a long supply chain, a very thin film can prevent the product from drying out, becoming wrinkled, or being rejected by retailers. In this case, packaging is not decoration, but product protection.
A study on the supply chain for cucumbers from Spain to Switzerland concluded that the plastic film accounts for only about one percent of the cucumber’s total environmental impact. At the same time, it can significantly reduce food loss; in this case, the ecological benefit of reduced food waste was deemed greater than the environmental impact of the film itself.
The better question is therefore not: “Packaging, yes or no?” but rather: “Is this packaging truly necessary for protection, shelf life, and resource conservation?”
Myth 5: “Paper is paper—clean tissues and paper towels belong in the blue bin.”
That’s wrong, too. Tissues, paper towels, and napkins are hygiene papers. Although they’re made of paper fibers, they’re unsuitable for the standard waste paper recycling process. Many of these papers are treated so that they do not disintegrate immediately upon contact with moisture. While this is practical in everyday life, it poses a problem in paper recycling.
In paper recycling, waste paper is dissolved in water so that the fibers can be recovered. Hygiene papers dissolve less easily and are also often contaminated with grease, food scraps, or bodily fluids. That is why tissues, napkins, and paper towels should never be placed in the blue recycling bin but rather in the general waste. The Consumer Advice Center also points out that hygiene papers cannot be recycled.
Conclusion
Effective waste separation starts with a simple principle: Not everything that looks the same belongs in the same waste stream. When it comes to packaging, the material, function, level of contamination, and technical sortability all matter.
Proper separation isn’t a perfect system, but it’s essential for recycling to work at all. By separating packaging, avoiding incorrect disposal, and separating materials as much as possible, you help turn waste back into raw materials.
World Environment Day is therefore not just about big goals, but also about concrete decisions in everyday life. Because the circular economy doesn’t start at the recycling plant — it starts where we decide what goes into which bin.
powered by