A quick water rinse is usually sufficient, if even that. They get shredded and smelted so it'll burn off drink residues.
this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2025
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Just a quick rinse is fine.
The only reason to even worry about that is the contents that remain drawing insects or critters trying to get at whatever residue is there. Once the residue is rinsed decently, you minimize that enough that it isn't a big deal, and you're good to go.
Pretty much all recycling (afaik anyway, I haven't checked every single possibility) of metal includes a cleaning of some kind. Then the metals get shredded or otherwise broken down. So having a some dried you soda residue, or some bean juice hanging on isn't going to interfere with the processing.
Now, if you've got a lot of goopy stuff left in/on a can, yeah, you may need to do more than rinse, but that's a different issue tbh
Even if you just chuck them all in the bin for landfill, if it gets your space clean and gets you in a better mood, it's worth it. Recycle when you can but don't let your space become a mess just for the sake of recycling a few cans.
I always worry about wasting clean water. I reuse dish water, but can't let clean water just run.
In theory you don't need to clean them at all, because they will hose them down at the recycling plant and also some residue will incinerate when they melt them.
However, until it's collected, dirty trash will attract rats and insects and it will smell disgusting, especially in summers. I would recommend cleaning it a bit, if you can.
This really depends on the technology and equipment employed by whatever Material Reclamation Facility (MRF) your locality is using. They can vary greatly and it's worth checking with your local recycling authority.
i rinse everything that goes to recycling because it could be a while until i get around bringing them to the collection area and i don't want my place to attract flies and other critters, or leak sticky stuff in my bin
I don't have an answer to this question, but I will provide my anecdote.
I have a smallish bin inside for all of my recycling. I rinse out of my bottles and cans in water so that the bin doesn't get stinky. I'm not required to in my area, I just don't like the smell of stale beer or old beans lurking next to my door.
My process is to just leave any bottles/cans/drinks that are recyclable next to my sink and when I do the dishes, I rinse them all out at the end and put them in the drying rack. the next morning they go to the inside bin. When the inside bin is full, I move that to the outside bin. Not too much effort, and my house smells (relatively) good
Not sure if you meant like cleaning them all out with the dishes using soap/sponges/etc. Just rinsing them out is fine.
But either option is better than just dumping dirty cans/bottles into your recycling pile. I had a friend who was living in a shared apartment with 3-4 other people and there was this one guy that never ever cleaned or rinsed any of his recycling. Apparently the shared kitchen area where the recycling was stored would reek and attract flies and other insects all because of that guy.
This is assuming you are expected by your council to clean it "thoroughly enough".
After you eat/drink the contents, a very quick rinse is all that's needed. Little stains aren't going to be bad for recycling.
If you've left it for a while and are worried, a simple but surefire way to clean out any significant gunk would be these steps:
- Make sure you have a strainer on your sink drain if your plumbing system is fragile.
- Fill every can or jar with water to near the top
- Wait 15 minutes
- pour out a can into the sink
- fill the can with a bit of water and shake the last bits out
- pour and lightly rinse the rest of the cans in the same way
- bin the gunk caught by the strainer.
Since you have so many, and I assume the food is dried-on, consider tearing off the paper labels and running them through the dishwasher. It's what I do with my cat's food cans (along with regular dishes) and it works great. Edit: if you don't have a dishwasher, have a hug from me. And then just chuck'em and start over.
Check your local council's advice, they will have written rules for what they require; for mine as long as it isn't caked in food they'll take it
Just give them a good rinse and you should be OK
I live in the UK
I was gonna say, I think most "recycling" is basically a scam in the US. I'm talking about the bins given to you by the city. They are just as big as the trash bins, and picked up every other week. Nobody is making sure what they put in the recycling bins is actually recyclable, and no is checking and sorting that shit.
No one wants to believe that's possible. Try to do some unbiased research about it.
It's probably not quite that nefarious, although I agree that the majority of what goes in the recycling bin doesn't get recycled.
The bins are the collection system. You can't recycle anything if you have nothing. People aren't good at following instructions. So everyone gets a bin for plastic, cardboard, and cans.
Here in Australia the guy in the truck is looking at what's in the bin before it goes in the truck. Obviously not checking every last little thing but once I tried to put a big chunk of polystyrene in and the truck just didn't take it.
Then at the collection centre it all goes on a conveyor belt and staff pick off the items that are recyclable. Anything not picked off gets dumped into landfill.
The problem you're alluding to is that there's a lot more recyclable stuff being discarded than there is demand for recycled products. For plastic for example the types are represented by those little numbers in the triangles.
I think 1 is PET and that's readily recyclable, everyone wants to recycle that. I don't remember the rest but 2 and 3 are recyclable but it's expensive and it's always down-cycling into some lesser product like black plant pots or green park benches, then 4, 5, and 6 just plain aren't viable for recycling.
I imagine Aluminium and Tin cans are readily recyclable, and clean uncontaminated cardboard, but the rest just goes in to landfill.
I think this system sucks because it gives people the illusion that their stuff is being recycled, however it's not an intentional scam.