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March 27, 2025 – Most Americans know to recycle paper, plastic, and glass. But three everyday items still end up in the trash at alarming rates: clean kitchen foil, toothpaste tubes, and aerosol cans. This Recycle Week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local municipalities are teaming up under the theme “Rescue Your Recyclables” to close that gap.
Why these three items slip through the cracks
The EPA estimates that nearly 60% of aluminum foil used in American kitchens lands in landfills, not recycling bins. Many people ball up foil with food residue, contaminating the batch, or mistakenly assume it’s not recyclable. In reality, clean aluminum foil—rinsed and free of grease—can be melted down and reused for car parts, new foil, or even bicycles.
Toothpaste tubes present a different challenge. Most tubes are made of a mix of plastic and aluminum layers, which requires specialized sorting. Until recently, few curbside programs accepted them. But thanks to advances in recycling technology and the How2Recycle label, many U.S. communities now accept empty, squeezed tubes. A growing number of municipalities in states like California, New York, and Oregon have added toothpaste tubes to their single-stream recycling lists, according to a 2024 report from the Recycling Partnership.
Aerosol cans—from hairspray to cooking spray—are often wrongly considered hazardous waste. As long as the can is empty (no pressure, no leftover propellant), it can be recycled as scrap metal. The Steel Recycling Institute notes that aerosol cans are made of steel or aluminum, both infinitely recyclable. In fact, recycled aerosol cans can become tomorrow’s bicycles, construction materials, or even new cans.
What the EPA wants you to know
“Recycle Week is about taking a second look before you toss something,” said Dr. Lisa Garcia, acting deputy director of the EPA’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery. “A toothpaste tube, an aerosol can, a ball of clean foil—these are not trash. They are resources waiting for a second life. By rescuing them from the black bin, every household can make a measurable impact.”
The EPA’s latest National Recycling Strategy, updated in early 2025, sets a goal to increase the national recycling rate from 32% to 50% by 2030. Targeted campaigns like “Rescue Your Recyclables” aim to address the “wishcycling” problem—throwing items in the recycling bin in hope they’re accepted, which actually contaminates streams. The solution? Use local recycling locators to check what your specific hauler accepts.
How to recycle each item correctly
Where to find local rules
The EPA’s “Where You Live” portal at epa.gov/recycle allows residents to search by zip code for curbside and drop-off guidelines. Additionally, Recycle Across America standard labels are being adopted in more than 2,000 U.S. cities this year, making it easier for households to know what goes where.
During this week’s campaign, the EPA will share daily tips on social media channels, highlighting success stories from cities that have boosted their recycling rates by focusing on these three “hidden recyclables.” One such example is Boulder, Colorado, where a six-month pilot program in 2024 recovered 12 tons of toothpaste tubes and aerosol cans that would otherwise have been landfilled.
The bigger picture
Every ton of recycled aluminum saves 9 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions compared to producing virgin aluminum. Toothpaste tubes sent to landfill take hundreds of years to decompose. And recycling just one million empty aerosol cans saves enough energy to power 60 U.S. homes for a year, according to the Aluminum Association.
Recycle Week serves as a timely reminder: recycling correctly starts with knowing what’s actually recyclable. By rescuing these three items from the garbage, American households can turn trash into tomorrow’s bicycles, car parts, and new toothpaste tubes—closing the loop one bin at a time.
For a complete list of accepted recyclables in your area, visit epa.gov/recycle or contact your
