Recycled Windows?
By pgn
@pgntwo (22412)
Derry, Northern Ireland
September 27, 2017 2:39pm CST
So I get home from work, what's on the doormat? Whatever the postman, or mailman, has delivered. The usual bits of advertising bumf, and, lo and behold, 3 letters in windowed envelopes.
So I'm ripping out the contents, a bill, a reminder for an overdue dental examination and a "To the householder" letter from Sky or Virgin or Verizon.
So far, so what, I hear you ask. What to do with the damned envelopes? The recycling people won't recycle the cellophane material that forms the window on these things.
So now I decide to remove the windows from those envelopes, ready to consign the paper envelope to the paper recycling bin, and dump the stupid plasticky window in the regular household waste bin.
Some envelope windows are designed to be easily removed from the paper surround... but others don't give up without a good fight, leaving strips of rustly, flimsy "Knisterfolie" (from the German for "rustly film") and loads of bits of white or brown paper in their lieu.
So my question: how do you deal with these window envelopes whilst maintaining a sense of civic duty with respect to recycling?
Song to get you in the mood: Mr Cellophane, from the film Chicago!
15 people like this
15 responses
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
27 Sep 17
It is terribly annoying and there are so many different rules for different people in different areas. Some friends they can put almost anyting in their recycle bins our ones are far too selective which is quite annoying. Some types of plastic are recyclable and others not. I am really quite irritated by this.
4 people like this
@pgntwo (22412)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
27 Sep 17
Our bin collectors occasionally carry out spot checks: one transgression, such as a window left in one of these envelopes, or in a box or carton from the supermarket, and your bin is not emptied. It's almost enough to put a fellow off his favourite custard tarts from the supermarket... 
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118365)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Sep 17
One of the things I find infuriating about this whole recycling business is that they shove the message down our throats that we must recycle more, and then they tell us there are 813 different rules to follow in order for our recycled items to be picked up. My thought is, if they want us to recycle, then let us throw everything in the recycle bins and they can sort them out themselves at some warehouse facility somewhere.
3 people like this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
27 Sep 17
We dump everything in our recycling bin. Except garden and food waste, and bodily function type stuff. Never had an issue. Oh, I know we can't put shredded paper in. We used to put that in the brown bin, but the brown bin is now only for garden waste and we have to pay for it. So, landfill it is. Or the tip.
3 people like this
@AliCanary (3041)
•
27 Sep 17
Rip the envelope in half, immediately putting the non-window half in the recycling bin, and then rip the other part in half longways, once again putting the non-window half in recycling. The rest should be fairly small and can be thrown in the regular bin with little guilt. And no wrestling with plastic!
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22412)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
29 Sep 17
@AliCanary That makes perfect sense, I agree. So why do manufacturers always put in a component that is "Not commonly recycled"? Is there a cartel here...?
2 people like this
@AliCanary (3041)
•
29 Sep 17
@pgntwo - My theory is that if it's easier, it will get done more, right?
2 people like this
@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
29 Sep 17
Can one easily cut out the window? Can you suggest to the envelope manufacturers to make the window recyclable? Can you tell the companies that use those kind of envelopes to not use them if the whole envelope is not recycle?
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22412)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
30 Sep 17
The window, depending on the manufacturer of the envelope, can be easy or awkward to remove cleanly.
I do not know why the window material cannot be made of recyclable material.
Companies that use them will buy what makes most sense - usually that which costs the least!
2 people like this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
27 Sep 17
One of the thing my small company does is to recycle and buy recyclables, I hire jobless people on a contractual basis to tear them together with tearing books and magazines to remove the sticky gum. There are times I have a lot like 300 kilos to half a ton lol! And they work only so long as there is something to do. At least I also generate employment.
The windows go to the trucks that collects our garbage and brings ir to the landfill. The paper is sorted out to different classes like white bonds, news prints etc.. And brought to the next recycling stage which is baling ( not mine but another company)
2 people like this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
28 Sep 17
@pgntwo that's the first step and we practice that also in our home, separate biodegradables and non-biodegradable. The nons are then separated to recyclable and non-recyclables. I only concern myself with the simple recyclables and I'm just a small player.
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22412)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
28 Sep 17
@louievill Recycling has to start small 
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22412)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
27 Sep 17
Now that is interesting. I did not think my post would attract comment from someone in the recycling business! Our work recycling asks that we separate paper and cartons in one bin, and food contaminated items in another bin. No fuss about windows in envelopes, or the plastic pack covering magazines - they have a machine that separates all those things. Food-contaminated waste is handled differently, not sure exactly how though.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
6 Oct 17
Uhm... what does "recycling" mean? Is it something important?
I am sure that is not something people in the Ozarks do or have ever done. (Nope! Not a joke!)
If you separate glass from plastic from paper from actual trash, the Sanitation Department truck will arrive, the gentlemen will get out and look at your nice, neat bundles, then throw everything into the crusher jaws and drive it to the landfill.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
6 Oct 17
@MarshaMusselman IDK, but I don't believe anything gets separated here. It all goes into the landfill, as far as I can determine.
What falls out of the compactor trucks may have splotches of different colors, but the blocks look almost fused together. Nobody is going to separate anything from that!
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38616)
• Midland, Michigan
6 Oct 17
I've seen that happen before, DE, too. In fact, here in our area people are supposed to put their newspapers into brown paper bags first to separate them from the rest, yet it all gets thrown into the same maw. Seems silly to go to all that trouble on separating at that point. Unless they can retrieve the paper bags easier once at the location, but I'd think most of the papers would already have fallen out of the bags.
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38616)
• Midland, Michigan
7 Oct 17
@DaddyEvil We have a location in our city that takes in recycling and there it does get separated into types of products, but I don't think the trucks picking up at the curb takes it there, but I could be wrong.
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38616)
• Midland, Michigan
6 Oct 17
I don't recycle envelopes and never thought about doing so. I did find out this spring that when taking my bags of shred material to the local bank for the shred event that I can now include prescription bags that have both paper and a larger plastic window area. Both are stamped with personal information, but I always thought it would jam up the large shredders if I were to include those with my other shred material.
In the past when I took my bags of papers to have shredded, they would dump the contents into a bin and suck it up that way while we were still there. Now they have machines that suck up the whole bag, which is plastic and all not needing to dump out the contents first.
I suppose if I were concerned about shredding all the blasted envelopes I could add it to my shred pile instead. Then it wouldn't matter how much plastic was included with the paper.
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38616)
• Midland, Michigan
8 Oct 17
@pgntwo A few banks only started making this available in the last few years and I miss the pickup most times. I've seen the same truck go to the hospital and similar places in town, but I've not seen anywhere else that they open it to members to bring their shred. It's a lot easier than shredding my own. I own the units to do that, but rarely take the time now that I can take it to my bank.
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22412)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
29 Sep 17
It seems some recyclers accept them ok, presumably as they have a way to remove the window from the envelope, recycling what remains. Check out what your local authority will and won't accept before doing battle with those wretched flimsy little windows... 
2 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
28 Sep 17
I just use those to start a fire in the barn stove.
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22412)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
2 Oct 17
@fishtiger58 And the don't flush down the dunny too good either. 
2 people like this
