MELROSE— Simple answer: Black no!
Other colors yes! Plastic bottles, jars, jugs and tubs can be recycled regardless of their color, as long as that color is not black or another really dark color.
The reason black plastic is a no is because recycling facilities sort plastics by bouncing a beam of light off them. Since black plastic absorbs light, it can’t be sorted and goes straight through the system and off to incineration. Most current black plastics use carbon to make the black, which absorbs the beam so the reader can’t identify the resin. So, please put black plastic containers in the trash.
A great resource for these and other questions is the recyclesmartma.org website. For more information on reduce, reuse and recycle her in Melrose, check out zerowastemelrose.org.
