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Things That Can Be Sold as Recyclable

Many people -- as well as companies -- practice trash segregation and recycling. With current landfill problems, recycling can be one of the most beneficial services people can do for the environment. Recycling centers will take many trash items and sometimes, people can even earn small amounts of extra cash by selling things as well. The first step is to figure out which recyclable items can be sold.

  1. Paper

    • You can't get rich turning in paper, which involves mere pennies, but it's certainly better than nothing. To prepare your mixed paper pile, separate the newspaper and corrugated cardboard. Put up one neat stack of dry and smoothed-down newspapers. Don't bother tying them together with anything. Cardboard needs to be flattened and stripped of plastic wrapping tape. An alternative stack of the remaining paper also needs to be flattened.

    Plastic Bottles

    • On plastic bottles, look for "Pet1" or "Pet2" at the bottom to see if they can be recycled. Some places do not require that the inside of the bottles be clean and dry, but others do. In Hawaii and a few other places, they also ask that the tops be removed from the bottles. In some states, you may also return bottles to the store for a small refund value. For example, in California, you can look for "CRV" (cash redemption value) on the label, which also states how many cents you can get for it.

    Aluminum Cans

    • Just like with plastic bottles, in some states, you may return cans to stores to get your deposit back. In these places, you should rinse out your empty cans before you return them to the store. Do not crush them so that their bar codes will remain readable; however, it is okay to crush cans if you're bringing them straight to the recyclers.

    Scrap Metal and Electronics

    • Recyclers welcome metals such as brass, aluminum, copper and stainless steel. They may come from car parts, the casing of old air conditioners and washing machines. To get money for them, try to find a junk yard or recycling firm that specializes in metals. As for broken or outdated electronics, cellular phones, computers and ink cartridges, some recyclers not only look for these items, but will pay for shipping charges.

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