There was a column I read in Mother Jones several years ago that describes “wishcycling” as follows: you look at something and think, “That should be recyclable.” So, you toss it in the recycling bin hoping that someone will figure it out. An empty toothpaste tube, for example, or a flexible packaging wrapper from a breakfast bar. Those should be recyclable, right?! No question, so put it in the recycling bin. 

The waste management industry, the likes of Waste Management and Republic, to name the two largest waste collection companies here in the US, call this “wishcycling.” As Marian Chertow, director of the Solid Waste Policy program at Yale, says, “A wishcycler wants to do the right thing and feels that the more that he or she can recycle, the better.” 

My wife is a wishcycler and causes me no end of frustration as I pick out non-recyclables from the recycling bin. There are people in our office who are wishcyclers as well, putting ink and ribbon cartridges in our recycling bin. This reflex of  “it must be recyclable” causes more harm than good by creating huge sorting issues at municipal recycling facilities (MRF’s). It is also, ultimately, the reason China has stopped taking secondary materials – too much garbage.

It’s important that you understand the collection process – not the recycling process but the collection process. This is where wishcycling begins. First, in my community, we have what we call a “single stream” collection process.  That means glass, paper, plastic and cans all go into the same bin. Historically we had a dual-stream collection process, where the aforementioned were kept in separate bins and put into separate bins on the collection truck. 

But single stream is more efficient and cheaper, so throw it all together, along with ribbon cartridges and toothpaste tubes and let someone else worry about it. (Europe, by the way, particularly Germany, still has recycling by commodity, and far, far fewer contraries!) 

Back to the process: Our comingled recyclables are sent to the MRF for sorting and packaging. MRFs are really a marvel to visit. They not only use human labor to sort, but use robotics, magnets, and digital and light separation techniques. There are conveyors running constantly and automatic tie balers packaging product into 1,500-2,000-pound bales. The problem is too much contamination caused either by carelessness or wishcycling. And it isn’t just the toothpaste tube or the ribbon cartridge.

Many of us, my wife included, are just plain confused about what we should or should not recycle. Twenty years ago, according to recycling experts, 7% of what was put into a recycling bin shouldn’t have been there. Today, it’s 25%. Think of it this way: 500 pounds out of a ton (2,000 pounds) is trash. No wonder the recycling industry has struggled of late. And no wonder China said we’ve had enough of your garbage. 


“Many of us, my wife included, are just plain confused about what we should or should not recycle. Twenty years ago, according to recycling experts, 7% of what was put into a recycling bin shouldn’t have been there. Today, it’s 25%.”


As Brent Bell, vice president of recycling operations at Waste Management, our largest recycler, says, “The garbage ranges from recyclables that are too dirty to process, mayonnaise jars still coated in a thick layer of eggy goo, for example, to items that shouldn’t be there in the first place.”

Recycling is not for the faint of heart. But wishcycling does so much harm. Unfortunately, it’s very common and people think they are being eco-friendly when really it is costing time and money and even sometimes creates far more waste.

Here are three big reasons why wishcycling is a bad idea:

Wishcycling wastes time – most MRFs are designed to recognize and sort/divert specific materials, materials that are accepted for recycling. When items like plastic cling or flexible packaging are part of the material stream, they jam up machinery.  Frequently, this means down time while working to fix the issue. The operation shuts down until the machinery is fixed or unclogged.

Wishcycling wastes money – the time spent on fixing clogged machinery and having the entire recycling facility stopped for repair ends up costing taxpayers money. Further, it puts the recycler at risk in his or her relationship with customers.  “If recyclers bale material with high rates of contamination, markets will not purchase them,” says Lara Rezzarday of Waste Management in Denver, CO.  Obviously, this makes recycling unsustainable.

Wishcycling creates more waste – most people don’t consider the downstream effects of non-recyclables.  If a non-recyclable gets through the machinery or hand sorters of the MRF, it very well can contaminate an entire batch of paper at the mill. Paper recycling starts when old corrugated is mixed with water to make a slurry.  Since we all know that oil and water don’t mix, think about how grease on a pizza box can cause oil to form at the top of the slurry. Then paper fibers cannot separate from oils during the pulping process. In this example, the entire batch is ruined. But let’s imagine that the paper mill quality control process doesn’t catch the contaminated liner board.  If somehow the imperfection eluded quality control, the stained product could eventually cause contamination when used in an automated packaging line. The cost of this can be enormous.

The answer for all of us is to make sure we are familiar with our community recycling program. In other words, we need to know what is recyclable and what isn’t. The same is true of recycling at our manufacturing plants. We need to be vigilant and know what our local recycler will take. The point here is that wishcycling in our manufacturing facilities can be just as onerous as at home.

Every program is different, whether at home or our place of business. We need to understand the guidelines. Of all the different materials we generate, plastics are the most difficult. Most consumer grade plastics have a stamped icon indicating their recyclability. The problem is that our community, or your recycler, may not accept all types. You need to make  sure that the number stated on the bottom of the plastic item is on the list of recyclables that the community will accept.

As someone said, “It’s not easy to be green!” I think it was Kermit. Regardless, wishcycling isn’t green. It’s just you wanting to be green!

I remember several converters telling me they were recycling their matrix. I questioned the veracity of their stories and exclaimed, “Matrix isn’t recyclable.” Think about it. Glue, laminated with paper and/or film, with topcoatings and/or overlamination. That combination is just not traditionally recyclable. But those converters promised me their matrix was being recycled. Over a three- or four-month research process, I found out what was happening to their matrix. It turns out their recycler was blending matrix into a bale of “mixed” paper and sending it to China. Obviously, there must have been more than one recycler doing the same thing. The result: China banned importation of the grade “mixed paper” in 2018. 

And, finally, all waste paper imports to China were banned on December 31, 2020. I am not saying our industry caused the problem. I am saying that their recycler contributed to the problem. Matrix is not recyclable. It belongs in an energy application, or what I have referred to as thermal recycling.

Traditional matrix recycling is wishcycling, and will be, until we change the composition of the substrate.

Another Letter from the Earth


Calvin Frost is chairman of Channeled Resources Group, headquartered in Chicago, the parent company of Maratech International and GMC Coating. His email address is
cfrost@channeledresources.com.