One thing we were told, while touring the sorting plant in New Brunswick where Princeton's recyclables are taken, is that wet paper tends to fall out of the sorting machinery and end up being taken to the landfill rather than get recycled. Weight being one of the factors that helps separate recyclable at the sorting plant, the heaviness of wet paper can prevent it from getting shunted onto the right conveyor belt with all the rest of the paper.
Most recycling programs avoid the problem of wet paper by providing residents with amply sized rollout bins with attached lids. Rollout bins also have wheels so residents don't have to do heavy lifting to get their recyclables to the curb.
Until Mercer County provides us with proper containers for our recyclables, residents can help by covering their yellow and green "buckets" one way or another. This will also reduce mosquito reproduction in the summer, when small amounts of water in a tin can or bottle are enough for the imported tiger mosquitoes to start a new generation.
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