3 things to look out for before recycling tableware

During the lunch break, the dining place that office workers are most used to stepping into is the buffet with a variety of dishes and their own choices. Everyone habitually picks up the plate, paper box, and a clip at the entrance, and then they can start to prepare lunch. Make the most nutritious combination!
But have you ever thought about how many disposable tableware you may come into contact with in one meal? Starting from paper plates and carton-packed dishes, to soup bowls and rice bowls, and then a spoon and chopsticks, if you take it out, you will have extra rubber bands, plastic bags, plastic ropes, etc. It turned out to be a lunch, but unexpectedly They will produce so much rubbish. Thinking about it, I don’t know how much burden the past lunch unintentionally caused to the environment!
And these used waste paper tableware (including cups, bowls, and plates, hereinafter referred to as paper tableware) are full of oil and water stains after use. Diners tend to put all paper tableware into plastic bags, tie them up and discard them. It is sent to the incinerator as general garbage.
Or people who are interested in sorting, but don’t notice it for a while, mix waste paper tableware into the “general paper” recycling classification, and it is easy to cause trouble and trouble in the subsequent secondary classification.
Perhaps at this time, many consumers will have doubts in their minds, “Waste paper tableware and ordinary paper, don’t they belong to the same category of paper recycling?” The answer is no! Because waste paper tableware is anti-oil and water leakage, the inner layer of the lunch box contains plastic film. Because of the different use and manufacturing method, it cannot be mixed with ordinary paper for recycling. It must be sent to a special factory to separate the paper and plastic film. It can be reused after being made into plastic particles and pulp.
If consumers can be more conscious and take one more step when eating, simply wipe or clean these waste paper tableware and sort them according to the store’s instructions, then recycling personnel, including operators of the collection system or self-employed , dispose of these waste paper tableware more efficiently, accelerate the resources entering the recycling process, and improve the overall recycling situation.
In order to increase the recycling rate, it is not only the consumers who have to develop the habit of recycling, the stores should also be more aware of environmental protection and do their part for the earth.
In order to encourage the public and stores to develop a good habit of recycling waste paper tableware after use, since February 1, 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency of the Executive Yuan, the competent authority, has started to promote the subsidy plan of “Paper Tableware Recycling Friendly Stores”. It is to encourage stores that actively advocate the recycling of disposable waste paper tableware to be more active in properly sorting and recycling to improve recycling efficiency!