Did you know that very little frozen food packaging of any kind is recyclable in metro KC?
You may already have known that the paperboard-based pints and larger tubs used for ice cream and other spoonable desserts are plastic-coated on both the interior and exterior surfaces, making them infeasible to pulp for recycling. If you look at and touch them, you can feel the smooth plastic surface.
What you may not realize is that most frozen food *boxes* aren’t recyclable, either. The unrecyclable ones aren’t made of the same material as a cracker or cereal or soda can box, though the difference isn’t obvious to the eye.
Because frozen food boxes need to withstand partial thawing, the resulting condensation and refreezing while they’re being handled and transported, they are quite often made with what’s called wet-strength paperboard. Wet-strength paperboard has plastic resin mixed into the fiber itself, preventing the fiber from being pulped for recycling.
Some companies do use a higher-quality paperboard that is inherently stronger so it doesn’t need the resin additive, but the only way to know if a frozen food box is plain paper is if it carries a How2Recycle label that looks like one of these two examples (How2Recycle has redesigned their labels so some packages have the old version on the top and some the new on the bottom:
If the How2Recycle label reads “Coated Paper Box – Check Locally,” it is not recyclable in metro-KC because ‘Coated’ means it contains plastic in this context.
If there is no How2Recycle label, the correct thing to do is to assume it’s made from wet-strength paperboard and discard it in your trash.
See what’s accepted at the KCMO Community Drop-off Recycling Centers operated by Bridging The Gap.
