People really need to stop contaminating recycling bins. In another words, it is not uncommon for people to throw any piece of non-recyclable garbage into a recycling bin, which several of those garbage pieces are too gross to touch. I sometimes spend my spare time decontaminating the recycling bins by putting my hand into the recycle bin in my dorm building to remove garbage and place them in the garbage can (and wash my hands after). If the recycling bins stay contaminated, then the contaminated recyclables end up going to the garbage.
One way of stopping contamination is for people to pay a bottle deposit for each bottle and get a refund for recycling. I mean, 11 US states already have them but I feel that all 50 states should. This way, people would pay extra money for buying bottled and canned drinks, save up the used bottles and cans, and get paid back to recycle. This practice should be included on college campuses and high schools.
This is a great point you bring up. I have noticed this before in the past as well and I wondered if the recyclable materials would be able to be recycled if they were contaminated with food or other waste. I think it’s awesome that you take the initiative to decontaminate the recycling bins and I agree that the incentive for recycling built into some recycling machines is one that should be used more widely. I used to collect recyclable materials and sell them to a recycling plant back home too, so I definitely think that people should take advantage of the incentives that are built into the system.