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This is a particularly big problem, and we need to remind ourselves before and after the holidays each year. Most of the packaging materials we use are recyclable, but most are not.

What is not recyclable is any packaging made of cellophane or plastic foil. If it is really paper, it just has a shiny design made of plastic or foil printed on it. When the paper is beaten in the factory, the design will float, so it can be shielded like a window in an envelope. It is then burned for energy or moved to a landfill. This is determined by the factory, not by us, but either way is better than throwing it all into a landfill.

Aluminum foil can be crumpled and recycled, but using it for packaging is too wasteful of resources, so please don't use it to wrap gifts by yourself, but you must recycle it if others use it.

I urge everyone to only use paper with only ink in the design, and then try to reuse it first for additional packaging or packaging materials. If it is torn and damaged and cannot be used again, it is recycled. You need to throw anything in the trash can except for paper (or aluminum foil).

It is often difficult to tell what packaging materials you have, so the default disposal solution here really needs to be garbage. If it goes into recycling but cannot be recycled, the entire batch of recyclables may be pulled out and discarded by the processor. In a waste-to-energy plant, any unrecycled packaging will be burned with other waste, but at the same time, they will be sent to the landfill. Either way, we need to put these things directly into the trash can without anyone needing to treat them as recyclable first, and then throw them away. To process the material twice, both the dollar and the environmental cost are too high. Generally speaking, if it tears like paper, it may be paper. If not, it is rubbish.

Please also pay attention to the same problem with gift boxes. If they are silver or gold, or shiny, they may have a plastic or foil coating. Whenever possible, we should choose white or printed cardboard boxes as our gifts. Those we can fully recycle.

An interesting side note is the paper towel. My reading shows that thin paper is made of very short paper fibers. This may indicate that the paper from which it was made has been recycled, but it definitely means that the quality of the thin paper is low enough to not mix well with office paper, envelopes, letters, etc. Its use should be minimized, then it should be used for packaging, or thrown into the trash can.

Finally, please don't forget the ribbons and bows. They look very beautiful, but they are not recyclable in any of our local systems. Of course, the best solution is not to use them in the first place, but their appeal is undeniable, so we know they will exist in large numbers. When you open the package, the next best thing is to put them in the bag and save it again for next year. A small piece of tape or a little glue can be used to reattach the bow to the new box, which is much less problematic than more new bows and ribbons. You can also use string to bundle packages, which can easily be reused for other purposes.

Your weekly Q&A column is about what to recycle, what not to recycle, and why. Encourage the public to submit questions to [email protection] via email

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