It’s expected that Americans will take more than 800 million business trips or vacations in 2024. When you’re staying at a hotel, it’s often easier to deal with recycling, but many people use home rentals like Airbnb for privacy and affordability. Camping is another popular option. 

When you’re on vacation, knowing how to recycle may not be as simple as you’d hope. For example, 19 states lack battery recycling mandates. Vermont law requires food recycling, including meats and bones. In some states, pizza boxes are recyclable, but they’re not in others. Knowing what to do can become a headache. 

That’s just the U.S. Recycling policies in other countries are often stricter than in the U.S. We’re going to look at the majority of recyclables and what popular destinations do with those recyclables. We’re focusing on the top 10 tourist destinations as ranked by CNN. What do you do if you’re renting a home or apartment for your stay and aren’t provided with recycling guidelines by your host?

Paris, France

One thing you’ll notice is that many countries require people to sort their recyclables. For this reason, it’s important to pay attention to what goes in each colored bin. Paris uses the following colors.

• Yellow – Cardboard, metal, paper, plastic, and small appliances.
• White – Empty glass bottles and jars.
• Green – Everything else that is smaller. Furniture, electronics, textiles, medical waste, light bulbs, and hazardous waste need special handling by recycling centers, bulky waste centers, or pharmacies.

Dubai, UAE

The Dubai Municipality has four colored bins for recyclables. A strong focus is on plastic recycling.

• Blue – Cardboard and paper
• Green – Bottles
• Red – Plastics
• Yellow – Cans

Madrid, Spain

Madrid has six different recycling and waste bins to use. 

• Blue – Cardboard, magazines, newspaper, and paper.
• Brown – Organic waste like leaves, food scraps, corks, used paper towels and napkins, and grass clippings
• Green – Glass jars and bottles
• Orange – Non-organic waste products, such as diapers, ceramics, and dirty paper products.
• Yellow – Plastic and metal, including foil and aluminum trays
• Special – Batteries and used oil are set aside for a special waste bin.

Tokyo, Japan

When you’re in Tokyo, there are four main categories to keep in mind: Burnable (Combustible), Noncombustible, Recyclable, and Bulk Garbage. 

Burnable items include normal trash like food wrappers, food waste, and household items like torn clothing, diapers, etc. Non-burnable items include ceramics, metal containers, plastic wrappers, and Styrofoam.

Recyclables include glass, metal, and plastic cans, bottles, and tins, magazines, paper, cardboard, and PET bottles in some districts.

This leaves bulk trash, which isn’t something tourists will likely need to deal with as it’s things like furniture, appliances, and mattresses.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The goal in Amsterdam is to be waste-free by 2050. It’s one reason why there is a lot of focus on taking out what you bring in when it comes to spending time in parks and other natural areas. By 2030, the city will have bins in place for food waste, but they’re still in the works. Multiple labeled bins are scattered around the city for recycling and waste disposal.

• Glas (Glass) – Glass bottles with a deposit on them are taken to a supermarket. Otherwise, glass bottles and jars go into this bin.
• Papier (Paper) – Cardboard, food packaging, magazines, newspapers, and sheets of paper. Sometimes, these bins are blue for easy identification.
• Plastic Verpakkingen (Plastic) – These bins may be orange. Plastic items, including bottles, are recyclable unless they contain a chemical. Clean metal bottles, cans, foil, and tins are also recycled in these bins. If a bottle is marked with a deposit, bring it to the supermarket.

Berlin, Germany

Like many European cities, Berlin also uses color-coded and specialty bins for correct recycling practices.

• Blue – Books, cardboard, catalogs, leaflets, magazines, newspapers, paper, and paper packaging.
• Bottle Bins – All glass bottles.
• Food Bins – All leftovers, fruit and vegetable trimmings and peels, meat trimmings and bones, coffee grounds, egg shells, tea and teabags, kitchen paper, leaves, and flowers.
• Gray – Tissues, diapers, toiletries, greasy papers, foil, and other household trash.
• Orange or Yellow – Composites, cutlery, drink cartons, foam containers, foil, metal, and plastic.

Rome, Italy

In Rome, there are five colored bins where you put your recyclables. Look at the pictures on each bin to make sure you have the right bin for the item you need to recycle. Only the tops of the bins are colored, so you need to pay attention to the top of the bin and the labeling.

• Green – Glass jars and bottles
• Blue – Plastic, including bags, and metal
• Orange – Food waste
• White – Cardboard and paper products
• Black – Trash

New York City, U.S.

In New York City, you can recycle beverage cartons, cardboard, glass, metal, paper, and rigid plastic. One thing that New York City’s Department of Sanitation does state is that improper adherence to these rules can result in being ticketed.

Place the items in a clear plastic bag that’s set out on the curb between 8 p.m. and midnight. If you have a bin with a secured lid at your rental, bins can go out between 6 p.m. and midnight. These time restrictions are in place to decrease rat populations.

It’s also important to note that any bins or containers must be brought back inside by 9 p.m. if the pick-up is completed before 4 p.m. If it takes place after 4 p.m., you have until 9 a.m. 

Barcelona, Spain

It’s important for recyclables to go into the correct colored bin that is seen on the streets. The different colors are:

• Blue – Cardboard, envelopes, magazines, napkins and paper towels that aren’t food stained, newspapers, paper, and paper bags.
• Brown – Corks, food scraps, grass trimmings, leaves, and weeds.
• Green – Glass containers, bottles, and jars that are not broken. All colors of glass are accepted.
• Yellow – Plastic and metal products.
• Gray – All waste that isn’t recyclable.

London, England

London aims to be a zero-waste city in the future. Current goals are to have no biodegradable or recycled materials sent to landfills by 2026. Some of the things the city does is to have free water filling stations throughout the city and in parks where people can fill reusable water bottles and stop purchasing single-use plastic bottles. 

Recycle anything that is paper, plastic, cardboard, glass, or metal in mixed recycling bins or clear plastic bags if you don’t have a bin at your rental. Food containers must be clean and dry. Flatten food and drink cartons, plastic bottles, and tetra packs. Keep lids on those items when you flatten them. Aerosol cans, such as sunscreen spray, are not recyclable.

How to Get More Information

Recycle Nation can help you uncover what is recyclable and what isn’t with our recycling database. As long as you’re in the U.S., our guide returns results and even locations that accept those items. Enter the item you have and the ZIP Code where you’re located to get instant results that include the nearest location, the hours, and contact information.

If you’re outside of the U.S., use a search engine to look up the recycling rules in that area. Most have guides you can save on your phone or computer for quick reference.

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• Source: https://recyclenation.com/2024/07/recycling-on-vacation-a-guide-to-different-recycling-policies-and-practices/