Soiled Paper Organics (Food and Yard) Container Uncoated paper*, such as newspapers, napkins, and traditional paper plates are allowed in the green cart if they are food-soiled or wet. *Uncoated means it is not lined in some form of plastic. Plastic is often used as a barrier to protect paper from food and moisture. This is a contaminate for the City’s organics composting program. Any soiled paper that is from cleaning or chemicals, please put in the trash. Do Not Recycle Paper that is wet, oily, or soiled cannot be recycled. In addition to potentially contaminating the recycling stream, wet paper has shorter fibers which makes them less valuable to a recycling processor. Oily or soiled paper fibers cannot be separated from the oils during the pulping process of paper recycling.
