We are all in to recycling, but not everything is recyclable.  Always check with your trash company to confirm what and how they recycle.  Some have different requirements.   Here are some general things you need to keep out of the recycling bin.

Coated Materials: Juice boxes, chip bags, frozen food boxes, and other materials that have a plastic, glossy or shiny coating are not recyclable.

Food-Stained Materials: Pizza boxes, used paper plates, napkins, paper towels, and jars with food residue should not be put in a recycling bin. While the materials themselves are recyclable, once they are contaminated with food they are useless.

Lids and Caps: While bottles can be recycled, the cap is made out of a different kind of plastic called polypropylene that has to be recycled separately. This goes for laundry-detergent caps and peanut-butter lids, too. Most plastics have numbers that determine where they should be recycled. No. 1 and No. 2 can usually be recycled with everything else. If it is No. 5 (polypropylene) or another number, it probably needs to be separated.

Plastic shopping bags: Plastic bags from the grocery store can be detrimental to recycling equipment because they wrap around the machinery and can shut down operation.

Shredded paper: A sheet of paper can be recycled five or six times. However, shredding paper destroys the fibers and makes it difficult to recycle. Brightly colored paper can be a bigger problem and ruin a whole batch of recycling paper.  Put out shredded paper in compost instead.

All medical waste: Needles, syringes, etc.

Plastic foam: Block Foam, air-filled packaging and packing peanuts

Source:  planetsave.com, ocregister.com