NASHUA – Face masks and gloves are now ending up in the city’s recycling stream.

Nashua’s Public Works Public Relations Administrator Lauren Byers said the materials are not recyclable, emphasizing the importance of keeping the city’s recycling stream clean. Rather than putting these items in a recycling bin, they should be discarding them in the garbage. Byers said the problem has grown within the last couple weeks as the weather has gotten nicer, drawing out more people who are wearing masks and gloves.

“There’s a whole bunch of reasons why these are problems, but the biggest problem is the material in itself is not recyclable, and therefore it has to be moved from the stream and that’s costly and time consuming,” Byers said.

Similarly to the ongoing issue of plastic bags winding up in the city’s recycling, the protective items are now getting caught in machinery.

“If there’s too much contamination in our recycling loads then we could get rejected where we wouldn’t be able to ship our stuff to them,” Superintendent of Solid Waste Jeff Lafleur said.

Lafleur also said the issue with these items ending up mixed in with the recycling has been gradually increasing.

If an employee who goes around the city collecting people’s recycling is to notice these materials in a bin, Lafleur said typically they will have to leave the load there and contact the resident and let them know what was wrong with it.

Residents are encouraged to call them to make sure everything is acceptable that is going out on the curb for pick up.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

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