At the recycling education meetings held May 16 in Concord, I faced a crowd at Beaver Meadow Golf Course with a lot of questions. One gentleman in particular was determined to play “Stump the Recyclinator.” He entered the room with his breakfast in tow and wondered whether its components could be recycled. I have previously addressed his question regarding the foil seals on yogurt containers (yes, they can when rinsed). I can now answer his other question with respect to wrappers found on items like granola bars.
If you go to terracycle.net, you’ll find information about various recycling opportunities. On the left side of the home screen, there is a sign up for “Energy Bar Wrappers.” As a participant, you will be sent four postage-paid envelopes for you to fill with wrappers. Each envelope will hold 200. You will be credited two cents for each wrapper, proceeds going to the nonprofit organization or school of your choice. There is no charge to become a participant. Terracycle offers similar programs for drink pouches, candy wrappers and cookie wrappers, among others.
What do they do with all of this “trash?” They upcycle it into fun products like tote bags, backpacks, lunch boxes and notebooks sporting its branded packaging.
So, even though you can’t throw your wrappers in with the rest of your recycling, with some extra effort, you can keep them out of the trash can.
