We’re delighted that our Black Plastic Recycling program has taken off so well! We’ve already filled two bins, and are rolling through another few as I write this, and we wanted to take an opportunity to clarify what we can and cannot accept.
We are really serious about doing this properly – it’s very important to us that the black plastic food containers that originate at The Sweet Potato don’t go into landfill, and it is easy enough to allow our community members access to this service that we’ve commissioned – so our staff sorts through all of the stuff we collect before sending it off to be recycled.
Our program only accepts clean, black, food grade plastic. That means that things that don’t belong – such as clear plastic, or housewares, or dirty black plastic food containers – have to be pulled out before we send the stuff to the recycling plant.
What follows is a gallery of the stuff that people have left in our recycling bins that we’ve had to divert:
NOT FOOD CONTAINERS. We can’t take household goods, tools, coat hangers, or anything else that isn’t a food container. 
UNWASHED CONTAINERS: whether it’s dirt from mushrooms or sauce and oil from takeout, we can only send clean containers. 
NORMALLY RECYCLABLE: Please don’t drop off things that are permitted under City of Toronto recycling rules, including clear plastic, metals, and anything else that should go in your blue bin.
GARDENING SUPPLIES: while they are black plastic, they’re not food grade – and can’t be processed with food containers.
NOT BLACK, or NOT PLASTIC: The jar lid on the left isn’t plastic, the vitamin bottle on the right isn’t black, and none of them are food containers.
A MOULDY APPLE CORE: seriously, this is just gross.
We’re delighted that folks are so excited about our Black Plastic Recycling program. Please work with us to make it go as smooth as possible.