Communities in southwest Idaho can recycle Nos. 1 and 2 plastic bottles only in 2018

Residents of Meridian, Idaho, will be able to recycle fewer types of plastic containers in 2018, according to a report from the Meridian Press.

Phoenix-headquartered Republic Services, which handles Meridian's trash and recycling collection, and the Ada County Solid Waste Advisory Committee announced in a statement released to the newspaper in December 2017 that changes would be coming to curbside plastic recycling as of Jan. 1, 2018, according to the report. Only polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic bottles, such as milk jugs, pop bottles, fruit juice bottles and jugs and detergent jugs, will be accepted for recycling as of the start of 2018. The change was in response to changing global recycling markets, according to the committee and Republic Services.

The change applies to all communities in southwest Idaho, according to information posted on the city’s website.

“Some common materials that can no longer go in the recycling bin include things like yogurt containers and the plastic containers that hold berries and salad mix from the produce department,” the Meridian Press reports.