Why can’t I recycle takeaway pizza cartons?
The greasy, cheesy goodness of pizza may be the reason we can't recycle the boxes.
Asked by: Anonymous
Takeaway food cartons are usually already partly made of recycled materials anyway – about five to 10 per cent. The material itself can be recycled perfectly well. The difficulty is that any cheese or grease stuck to it contaminates the material, making it useless for recycling. Some pizza companies get around this by putting the food on a circular cardboard insert. The other solution is to compost the used boxes instead.
Subscribe to BBC Focus magazine for fascinating new Q&As every month and follow @sciencefocusQA on Twitter for your daily dose of fun science facts.
