The problem with wishcycling

​By Fatima Abidi

A soiled pizza box, a broken glass jar, an old charger. 

The one factor that ties these items together is that they are examples of commonly “wishcycled” products. 

“Wishcycling” is the practice of placing items in the recycling bin and hoping they will be recycled, without having evidence to believe that this is the case. Oftentimes, these objects — and objects they come into contact with — end up in landfills, which is the last place the person intended for them to go. 

Although wishcycling is usually done with good intentions, incorrectly recycling items can cause contamination in the recycling system and cost money, time, and effort to combat its resulting effects. 
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Due to recycling’s popular reputation, many people believe that it is an easy and accessible way to practice sustainability, and so it’s become commonplace to assume that most objects can be reprocessed through curbside pickup. Unfortunately, this isn’t actually the case. Additionally, the fact that each municipality differs in what it accepts can cause confusion when people try to figure out what object belongs in which bin. 

What kinds of items are wishcycled?

A broad range of items — everything from electronics to clothes and other household items — can follow the same fate of being wishcycled. 

The most common items include:

• unrecyclable plastics
• electronic waste
• items that still contain product or residue 
• broken glass or mirrors
• textiles, such as clothing
• multi-material items 
• very small items
• construction waste

Plastics tend to be the greatest offenders, as they’re often misleadingly labeled as recyclable, making it hard to discern whether they will actually be accepted or not. It is important to remember that items marked as “recyclable” are only recyclable in theory — somewhere in the world — and may not be accepted for recycling in your area.

A 2022 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) stated that, “Only around 9 percent of all the plastic waste generated globally is recycled” (OECD, 2022). 

Despite the well-meaning intentions behind wishcycling, a very small portion of plastics are actually reprocessed, and the contamination caused by wishcycling can lead to a decrease in recycling rates.

Wishcyling jeopardizes the recycling process by causing contamination 

You may have heard the saying, “A bad apple spoils the whole bunch.” This is especially true of the recycling process. 

Incorrectly placing items in the recycling bin can result in more trash making its way to landfills through contamination and can put workers at risk as they sort and pick out non-recyclables. 

The highest contamination rates in Canada occur in Toronto and Edmonton, where around 25% of items that are sent to be recycled are contaminated (Chung, 2018). 

This places a significant financial strain on recycling infrastructure, as facilities still have to process the contaminated items, only to ultimately send them to landfills instead. Contamination can also lower the value of some materials and cause machine jams, both of which hinder the cost of the recycling from being offset.

Jim McKay, general manager of waste management services for the City of Toronto, estimates that $600,000 to $1 million a year could be saved with each percentage point decrease in Toronto’s contamination rate (Chung, 2018). So, by sorting our items properly and doing our part to prevent contamination, we can benefit the environment, keep waste management workers safe, and free up city funding to be used for other pressing matters. 

What can we do to prevent wishcycling?​

The first step to reducing wishcycling is becoming aware of what can and cannot be recycled in your municipal waste system. Because each city has exceptions and differences in what they accept, it’s best to research what items are acceptable to be recycled in your area to make sure you’re utilizing the recycling system to the best of its ability. 

For example, the City of Toronto has a handy tool called the Waste Wizard. This tool can be used to quickly determine where to place items you would like to dispose of. 

While you should reference your city’s guidelines, here are some examples of how to properly dispose of commonly wishcycled items:

• Usually, plastics with the recycling numbers 1, 2, and 5 can be reprocessed.
• Plastic wraps (like Saran Wrap) and black plastics are examples of plastics that often cannot be recycled through municipal programs, although there are exceptions.
• Multi-material items that are made of mixed components, such as clothing and bound books, tend to not be recyclable. The materials need to be fully separated if they are to be recycled. 
• Broken glass or metal can damage machine parts, can be missed during the sorting process, and can injure workers, and should thus be thrown out in the garbage. 
• Items with very small amounts of residue are usually recyclable, but items with food or liquid residue can end up contaminating other items, ultimately resulting in more unnecessary waste. To prevent the contamination of other recyclables, take the time beforehand to rinse, clean, and sometimes dry out the object of any residue before recycling it. 
• Some contaminated items, such as paper pizza boxes, can also be composted. 
• Very small pieces of metal, paper, and plastic are often missed by recycling sorters and can jam the machines (an example being bottle caps), and shouldn’t be placed in the recycling bin. Small pieces of paper that you would like to have recycled should be placed in an envelope or recycling-appropriate bag.
• Other sustainable options to deal with some non-recyclable items include reusing, repurposing, donating, trading, and selling (for example on Facebook Marketplace or in Buy-Nothing groups). ​

Wishycling in the donation context

Another type of wishcycling occurs in the donation context, when items that aren’t
suitable to be given away for reuse are donated. This places the burden of disposing of the items onto donation centers and their workers and leads to donation centers being at capacity
with items that cannot be reused — items that ultimately end up in landfills.

This is a commonly reported issue among donation centers. For example, Sean Shannon, the CEO of National Diabetes Trust, reported that “Both well-intentioned but misinformed donors, as well as clearly some bad actors, have been using bins like ours as basically dumping grounds” (Jones, 2020). 

The topic of donation is a complex one, as we must consider: in what situations might our well-intentioned generosity have negative implications? But a good starting point is to be more thoughtful when choosing which items to donate. 
Some ways to reduce the negative impacts of over-donating and donating inappropriate items include:

• Check the list of what is accepted for donation before packing your items and dropping them off — not all charities accept the same items.
• Omit items that are torn, broken, or unusable.
• Omit items that might pose a health hazard, such as rusted nails, broken glass, clothing stained with blood or other human waste, expired cosmetic products, and expired vitamins.
• Wrap or package dangerous items, such as kitchen knives, and clearly label them
• Pack your donations neatly, and separate items by type (for example, don’t pack shoes in the same bag as clothes, as soles of the shoes may stain the clothes and render them unusable)

For a full list of what is accepted at the SLNA-WRG’s REmarket event, be sure to check out the REmarket Rules & Guidelines page.

We must all recognize that unusable items should not be donated and should instead be recycled or placed in the garbage bin, depending on what the item is. 

Summary

While wish-cycling itself often stems from harmless intentions to reduce extra waste from being sent to landfills, incorrectly placing items in the recycling or in donation bins can have a plethora of negative consequences for the receiving facilities and the process as a whole. Becoming aware of and following recycling guidelines and restrictions can support an already weakened system. 

Although recycling isn’t the perfect solution to the waste problem, correctly using recycling services can reduce the financial burden on these facilities, prevent unnecessary waste, and be a push for change in the right direction in regards to the way the world deals with waste. 

​*This article was edited by Lumida Editing & Proofreading