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I spent 2 years washing my recycling before tossing it

My neighbor works at the local recycling center in Portland and told me they throw out anything that looks too clean because it jams their machines. I was rinsing every jar and can like my life depended on it, wasting gallons of water. Am I the only one who got the 'clean recycling' message completely backwards?
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2 Comments
the_jordan
the_jordan25d agoMost Upvoted
Sounds like your neighbor is messing with you.
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victor_perry90
Went through this exact thing myself last year... turns out the rules are different everywhere. What finally worked for me was just calling my local recycling center and asking them straight up what they actually want. They told me a quick rinse is fine but that soaking or scrubbing is a waste of time and water. Now I just give stuff a quick shake and toss it in, no more wasted hours at the sink.
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