25 items you may be recycling by mistake, and why you shouldn't be

Recycling standards vary widely across the US, which can make it confusing to know what your city will pick up and what you need to drop off yourself.

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post Recycling standards vary across the US, with municipalities often setting their own unique rules.

Recycling the wrong material or including wet or dirty items can contaminate the waste stream.

Some items may need to be dropped off at specific locations rather than collected.

Many of us have been guilty of "wish-cycling" — that is, tossing every piece of paper, plastic, metal, or glass in the blue bin, assuming it's probably recyclable.

Unfortunately, recycling is more complicated than that.

"There are literally thousands of recycling standards across the country," Rajesh Buch, a professor at Arizona State University, where he teaches a course on sustainable business, told Business Insider.

That's in part because recycling systems that sort through piles of discarded items can cost tens of millions of dollars.

"In most communities," he said, "they don't have the resources to have these fully loaded, full-capacity systems." The disposal of household batteries, for example, is a common source of confusion.

While the EPA recommends that single-use household batteries be sent to specialized battery recyclers, it also says that "in most communities, alkaline and zinc carbon batteries can be safely put in your household trash." For residents of New York City, however, the Department of Sanitation's guidelines declare this is illegal and dangerous, citing risk of fire and explosion.

New York City residents are required to dispose of their batteries at waste drop-off sites or at stores that accept them.

Conflicting standards can be confusing, but dumping every container or scrap can contaminate the waste stream, Buch said.

Earth911 has a recycling locator that can help you find where to dispose of certain recyclables, or you can pay a company like TerraCycle to do the work for you.

That said, there are some items that almost always need to go in the garbage or a special recycling facility.