PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Monday is "America Recycles Day," and the Philadelphia Streets Department hosted a celebration to educate people on the importance of recycling, and knowing the right kind of plastics to recycle.
Organizers kept the event fun with games to test recycling knowledge, with a tip to help you remember what to recycle.
Just keep Philly's area code in mind as a guide to remember what materials go into your recycle bin - two, one and five.
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Those specific types of plastics are recyclable, in addition to paper, cardboard, glass and metals.
Linda Ruez, who came to the Municipal Services Building concourse to pick up a bin, played the game to test her recycling skills.
Let's just say she learned a few things.
"Styrofoam things I had always put into recycling, so I had that one wrong, and sometimes the plastics," she admitted.
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Kyle Lewis, Program Director for Recycling for the City of Philadelphia, said one of the biggest problems with recycling is knowing what to put where, which can become problematic.
"The contamination rate for recycling is about 25%, which means that one in four of the items that go in the bin shouldn't actually be in there," he said.
"WSo we encourage people to take a minute before you bin it, and when in doubt, keep it out."
Violators or property owners who fail to recycle properly, or not at all, are subject to fines of up to $300.
