Clean Off All Food
Aluminum foil is recyclable if it’s free of food residue. Do not recycle dirty aluminum because food contaminates recycling. Try rinsing the foil to clean it; otherwise, you can throw it in the trash.
Ball It Up Before Recycling
Save your clean aluminum foil pieces and roll them all together into a ball until it has a diameter of at least 2 inches. Small and loose pieces of foil may be too small to be recycled in facilities and may get caught in machinery or be blown away, becoming litter in the transportation process.
No Potato Chip Bags
Items such as potato chip bags are made of a metallized plastic film, not aluminum, so don’t recycle them.
Do the Scrunch Test
Scrunch an item you’re not sure about in your hand and, if it springs back, it’s not aluminum.
Ways to Reduce
Use Parchment Paper Instead
Aluminum foil is taxing on the environment because of the high demand for it. Instead, try using parchment paper — also called baking paper or baking parchment — which is moisture- and grease-resistant, and makes cleaning up easy.
Ways to Reuse
Sharpen Scissors
Fold a sheet of foil several times and cut through it with a pair of dull scissors to sharpen the blades.
Protect Plants
Protect your young plant from insects by wrapping its stem loosely in aluminum foil.
Clean Your Grill
Crumple up a used piece of aluminum foil and use the ball to scrape the crust off your grill.
