Single-stream recycling is coming to Marquette County on Oct. 1, according to a recent Journal article. This change means residents of the Marquette County Solid Waste Management Authority’s constituent municipalities will soon be able to recycle their cardboard, paper materials, plastics and metals all on the same week.

This is in contrast to the current dual-stream system, which necessitates an alternating pick-up week schedule for rigids and fibers.

Here at the Journal, we’re glad to see single-stream recycling coming online soon, as it’s sure to simplify the process and encourage more people to recycle, which can extend the life of our local landfill.

However, it’s critical to be mindful of what we recycle, as not all cardboard, plastic and metal materials are safe, feasible or economical to recycle. Due to this, we’re glad to see the MCSWMA promoting its website, www.recycle906.com, which has guidelines and information about what items can and cannot be recycled curbside.

While recycling can keep items out of landfills, it’s important to recognize that when contaminated, hazardous or non-recyclable items are introduced into the stream, this can actually lead more discarded items into the landfill or the environment in the long run.

For example, a well-intended toss of an item with food residue into the recycling bin can contaminate other items being recycled.

It’s important to wash these items out if possible, but we need to be mindful of how much water is needed to clean an item well enough for recycling and weigh the cost/benefit of the particular situation accordingly.

And then there’s the issue of plastic shopping bags and other items that can tangle around the recycling sorting equipment. This can be dangerous and inconvenient for workers and lead the item straight to the landfill anyway. Most importantly, there’s the matter of items that are ignitable, corrosive, or toxic, such as oil paint, motor oil, fuel, poisons, or medical waste.

These items are never OK to recycle curbside, and we encourage parties with these items to check out the Authority’s Household Hazardous Waste program to find out how to safely dispose of these.

We commend the authority for its efforts to inform and engage the public about this new program. We encourage all residents to recycle and help spread the word about remaining mindful of the relative costs and benefits of recycling certain types of items.