Almost every junk removal company describes itself as eco-friendly. The honest answer to whether they recycle is: it depends on whether the load is sorted, and when.
Most of what comes off a junk truck does not have to be buried. Whether it is comes down to decisions made while the truck is being loaded.
Sorting happens at the loading, not afterwards
Once furniture, metal, cardboard, brush and debris are mixed together in the back of a truck, they are very hard to separate again. Mixed material usually has only one destination.
So the real work of recycling is done while loading: keeping clean wood, metal, electronics, green waste and reusable items apart so each can go somewhere other than landfill.
Where a sorted load can go
Each of these has a route out of landfill where a local facility or partner accepts it.
- Donation: furniture and household goods that are clean, sound and odor-free
- Metal: appliances, bed frames, grills and fixtures go to scrap recovery
- Electronics: TVs and computers go to electronics recyclers
- Green waste: brush and yard debris can be composted if it is kept free of plastic
- Refrigerant appliances: fridges and freezers go to certified refrigerant recovery
Be wary of a precise percentage
A company that advertises a single, exact percentage of everything it diverts from landfill is giving a figure that is very hard to measure across mixed loads, sites and facilities. We do not publish one for that reason.
It is more useful to ask how a load is sorted, and where each kind of material goes.
What you can do to help
The customer has more influence over recycling than the truck does. A few minutes before the crew arrives makes a real difference.
- Tell the crew which pieces are clean and in good shape — it changes where they go
- Keep plastic pots, bags and wire out of yard waste
- Pull paint, fuel, chemicals and batteries out of the load for a hazardous waste program
- Keep clean wood, metal and cardboard separate from mixed debris
Questions to ask before you book
Ask how the load is sorted, whether reusable items are donated, where electronics and refrigerant appliances go, and what happens to hazardous material. A company that sorts properly can answer each of those plainly.
