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Recycling

GuideFAQ

Interactive Recycling Guide

Green Star of Interior Alaska has created an Interactive Recycling Guide with information about identification, preparation and locations for recycling various materials in the Fairbanks Area. 

View the Interactive Recycling Guide

Recyclable Spotlight: Electronics and Batteries

Did you know that you can recycle your old electronics, especially household batteries (no car batteries), computers, gaming systems and laptops at the Central Recycling Facility? Whenever possible our ReUse IT team will refurbish items to sell at our ReUse IT store or give to community members via our ReBoot IT Technology Grants program. Even items too old to be reused will be taken apart for recycling. This keeps your old electronics in circulation, out of your junk drawer, and out of our landfill.

Back to School Sale, Links and reminders

Quick invitation and a few reminders and helpful links…

#FNSBRecycles QR Code Sheet

Can you hang this #FNSBRecycles QR code sheet somewhere for us?

Don’t bury me!

Don’t bury me! #FNSBRecycles – please help keep things which can be recycled from being buried in our Landfill.

Borrow recycling bins

Eligible companies and events can borrow recycling bins from Green Star of Interior Alaska – for FREE! Some terms and conditions apply.

The ugly truth about plastic:

Did you know that half of all of the plastic ever made has been made since the year 2000?

Where to Recycle

Click here to view an interactive map of where to recycle in Fairbanks.

Mixed Paper

Identification: Commonly found in a variety of paper products, mixed paper can be identified by its ability to rip or tear.

Cardboard

Identification: Commonly used to make boxes, corrugated cardboard can be identified by its brown hue and multi-layer corrugation.

Plastics #1 & #2

Identification: Rinsed #1 (PET) bottles including beverage bottles, salad dressing bottles, etc.   Rinsed #2 (HDPE) jugs with necks and screw tops including milk and detergent jugs.

Plastic Bags

Identification: Plastic grocery bags are inexpensive bags you may receive at grocery stores, convenience stores, and other retail outlets.

Aluminum Cans

Identification: Commonly used as beverage containers, aluminum cans are identified by their metallic sheen and are not magnetic.

Steel Cans

Identification: Commonly used for food storage, steel cans are identified by their metallic sheen and are magnetic.

Scrap Metal

Identification: Aluminum scrap, brass, copper, stainless steel, radiators, lead, tin, cables, appliances, etc.

Electronics

Identification: Electronics are everywhere – smartphones, televisions, DVD players, computers… anything with a circuit board is an electronic device.

Household Batteries

Identification: Household Batteries include common household batteries of all types, including alkaline, carbon-zinc, lithium, mercury, silver oxide, rechargeable and more.

Vehicle Batteries

Identification: Vehicle Batteries include batteries from cars, trucks, recreational vehicles, ATV’s, motorcycles, and snow machines. The most common are lead-acid batteries, but they include newer technologies such as lithium ion, lithium polymer.

Fluorescent Lights

Identification: Fluorescent light tubes are widely used in homes and businesses. They contain toxins and need to be disposed of properly.

Light Bulbs

Identification: Light Bulbs including compact fluorescent bulbs, LED bulbs, and incandescent bulbs illuminate the world around us but many contain toxins and need to be disposed of properly.

Clothing

Identification: Gently used and clean clothing and shoes

Household Items

Identification: Household items run the range from dishes, to lamps, to toys, to furniture.

Eyeglasses

Identification: Prescription glasses, reading glasses, sunglasses, and children’s glasses with plastic and metal frames. 

Paints, Oils, & Chemicals

Identification: Paints, oils and other chemicals are considered household hazardous waste. They may be toxic and should not be put in regular trash.

Used Cooking Oil

Identification: Commonly used as a means to cook or fry foods, it is an animal or plant-based oil that is no longer fit for human consumption.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recycling in Fairbanks

Your questions about recycling in Fairbanks, answered! Don’t see your question here? Email us at !

Where do I recycle in Fairbanks?

View our interactive map on this page for recycling locations. See our recycling guide for information about specific recycling needs in Fairbanks! You can also download our PDF Recycling Guide.

What materials does the Central Recycling Facility (CRF) accept?

The Central Recycling Facility accepts aluminum cans, cardboard, paper, #1 and #2 plastics, and electronics.  See this quick reference guide  for details on what is acceptable and unacceptable.  You can also explore our Interactive Recycling Guide for all your recycling needs in FNSB.

What happens if I try to drop off recyclable material that is not on the CRF’s list of accepted materials?

Dropping off an item that is not on the CRF’s list of accepted items for recycling is sometimes called “wishcycling” or “wishful recycling.” Wishcycling refers to a consumer’s tendency to put an item in their recycling bin because they believe it should be recycled, regardless of whether that item is on the list of accepted materials for local recycling facilities. When Fairbanks residents wishcycle, the CRF has to spend more staff hours removing the non-approved items. Wishcycling may also reduce the resale value of the baled material if CRF staff are not able to remove all of the non-accepted items. 

If you don’t know whether an item is recyclable in Fairbanks, ask CRF staff before handing the item to them. If you’re not sure and don’t have time to check, it’s best not to drop it off. When in doubt, leave it out! 

 

What happens to my recycling when I drop it off at the CRF?

West Rock is the borough’s contractor who buys and sells (brokers) our materials to mills all around the world. The borough ships recycled materials from the CRF to West Rock’s facilities in Anchorage via train.

Aluminum is typically shipped via train to Kentucky.

Plastic is typically shipped to countries overseas, like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Mixed Paper is typically shipped to mills in the Pacific Northwest.

Cardboard is shipped to the West Rock processing plant in Yakima, WA to be made into new cardboard. Some cardboard is sold to Thermo-Kool in Wasilla to be made into insulation material.

Electronics are delivered to Green Star to separate functioning, newer-model computers, vintage or collectible items, and other electronics for refurbishing from electronics materials that are no longer usable. We refurbish electronics when possible to sell for reuse at our warehouse and to various buyers locally and nationally. Non-working electronics are sorted onto pallets and shipped to Total Reclaim in Tacoma, WA. Total Reclaim separates “Cathode Ray Tubes” (CRTs) – i.e., big boxy TVs and computer monitors – and other computer equipment into component parts. These parts, which include leaded glass, precious metals, non-precious metals, and plastics, are made available to manufacturers for purchase. Steel and aluminum computer frames are sold to a local scrap metal dealer.

Why can’t I recycle glass in Fairbanks?

The current prices for recycled glass do not cover the cost of collecting, sorting, and transporting the heavy material from Alaska to glass plants in the lower 48. Glass bottle manufacturing has decreased 50% over the last half century since plastic bottles and aluminum cans have taken a large part of the container market, and the market value of recycled glass continues to decrease. Despite the expense and difficulty of recycling glass, the environmental value of using post-consumer glass in glass production (energy savings, reduction in greenhouse gases, waste reduction) still holds strong.

Why doesn’t Fairbanks offer curbside pick-up for recycling?

Curbside pick-up is only feasible in areas with a high density of people, which means a high number of paying customers per mile driven. Most of Interior Alaska does not have a high enough population density for garbage pick-up or curbside recycling. Our situation isn’t unique – only half of Americans have curbside pick up!

Why doesn’t the Borough use a single-stream recycling system?

Single-stream recycling systems allow residents to collect recyclable items in one container without sorting. Single-stream recycling must be processed in a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to separate different materials through a mechanized process. While single-stream recycling can collect up to 40% more recyclable material than drop-off facilities, MRFs are expensive to build and maintain. This process is not perfect, and can result in higher contamination rates in baled materials than drop-off facilities. MRFs were the root cause of high contamination rates (upwards of 27%) that caused China and other countries to start rejecting recycled material from the U.S.

Can I recycle in North Pole?

North Pole residents are part of the borough, and thus can drop off their recycling at the Central Recycling Facility for free, like all other residents.

Recyclable Materials

Why are #1 and #2 plastics the only types collected for recycling in Fairbanks?

#1 plastic is known as Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), and includes soda and juice bottles and other food and drink containers with a dimple at the base. Generally, the mouth of the container needs to be smaller than or equal in size to the base; the mouth size is indicative of the type of manufacturing process used to create the item, dictating how it can be recycled. Clamshell food containers are not included.

#2 plastic is known as High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), and includes milky or solid colored plastics, milk jugs, and detergent and shampoo bottles. Look for a seam at the base. Generally, the mouth of the container needs to be smaller than or equal in size to the base.

To make the CRF successful (i.e., to make enough money to pay for itself), the borough focuses on collecting types of plastic that have the highest resale value and the most consistent market demand. Other types of plastic could be recycled if the economic demand for them as a raw commodity rose. #1 and #2 plastics are easy to recycle because they do not have chemical additives that prevent them from being melted down for remanufacturing. The CRF lacks the space to stockpile material that it cannot readily sell, so it is not able to collect certain types of plastics in the hope that one day the market demand for them will rise.

Why is the clear rigid packing material used to package food (i.e., clamshell containers) labeled as #1 plastic not accepted by the CRF?

Clamshells stamped with the #1 PET resin code are unlike #1 PET bottles because they contain an additional chemical called glycol. Clamshells are more accurately categorized as #1 PETG plastics. The two different types of #1 plastic cannot be mixed because #1 PETG has a lower melting temperature than #1 PET. The CRF does not collect #1 PETG because it is difficult to resell.

Why do we need to remove the lids on plastic bottles before recycling them?

Lids on plastic bottles are a different type of plastic and do not melt at the same temperature as the bottle, so they have to be separated. It is also more difficult to crush a bottle when the air inside cannot easily escape; when workers compress plastic bottles into bales, the plastic caps can shoot off the bottle with incredible force and potentially injure someone. Please be kind and remove the caps!

Why can’t I drop off my steel cans at the CRF?

The CRF does not have sufficient space to store steel cans until they have a large enough volume of steel to sell for a profit. Luckily, there is a private company in Fairbanks, K&K Recycling, that handles scrap metal, including steel cans.

What happens to my data when I drop off a phone or computer for recycling at the CRF?

Any data in any device that is dropped off for recycling is destroyed in one of two ways:

  1. If the device works and is serviceable for resale, it is digitally wiped first.
  2.  If the device does not work, it is sold to scrap buyers who shred the hard drives into little bits, making the data unreadable.

Does C&R Pipe and Steel smelt recycled metals locally?

No. C&R Pipe and Steel is a private business that has a division that buys scrap metal for bulk resale and another division that sells pipe, but they do not manufacture or smelt the pipes themselves. Their stockpile of metal is impressive and so is their use of heavy equipment to compress scrap metals into “bales” and cut steel to size.  All the scrap metal is shipped to Washington and sold to various buyers. The old steel is melted down, purified, and used to manufacture various steel products like pipe for the oil fields. 

 

Other Recycling Questions

How is China’s 2018 ban on recycled material imports affecting the U.S. recycling market?

For decades, the United States has exported recyclable materials to China in shipments usually mixed with trash or low-quality, uncleaned recyclables. There is strong evidence to suggest that China did not actually recycle the material it received; the majority of it was burned or sent to landfills. In 2018, China implemented a strict policy banning the importation of solid waste as raw material, including these shipments from the U.S.. This was devastating to recyclers in the United States, who had formerly shipped 70% of their plastics and paper to China for processing. Communities across the United States have curtailed collection or halted recycling programs until new markets can be developed. Recyclers are investing in local processors to spur the domestic market. Since China implemented the ban on importing recyclable materials, 17 paper mills and four plastic processing plants have either opened or expanded in the United States.

China’s ban also requires recyclers in the United States to get serious about contamination of recyclable materials. As consumers, we can help this process by rinsing our recyclables thoroughly, and ensuring we only dispose of material that can actually be recycled by our local communities. This worldwide shift in the recycling market has slowed recycling down for the moment, but is also opening up exciting new opportunities for recycling innovations in the U.S.

What is a container deposit law (also known as a bottle bill), and do we have one in Alaska?

A container deposit law, or “bottle bill,” is legislation designed to encourage higher recycling rates for beverage containers made of aluminum, glass, and plastic. Consumers pay a deposit on all bottles purchased, which is then refunded to the consumer when the bottles are returned to a designated collection site.

Alaska does not have a container deposit law in place, nor is any legislation currently being considered by the state government.