Why do different towns collect different items in their recycling programs?
In Connecticut, most of our recyclables are sent to one of six intermediate processing centers where they are prepared for marketing to businesses that will transform them into new products. Some of these centers accept non-mandated items because they have found a suitable market. For example, the Hartford recycling center accepts magazines and catalogues along with newsprint because the newspaper mill that they ship to uses this mix to produce new newsprint. Some of the other centers have contracts with older mills that are only designed to use pure newsprint to produce their product.
