Can you throw those pizza boxes in the recycling bin in Iowa?

It's a question I try to remember the answer to every Friday or Saturday night after a visit from Happy Joe's. We've finished the pizzas and are now left with the grease-stained cardboard boxes. I always find myself thinking "wait, can I put these in the recycle?" You want to do at least something to take care of the environment of course but Iowa only takes certain things eligible for recycle.

Cardboard is recyclable, that's why we put our packages in the recycling bin. So you would think pizza boxes would be fine right?

Can You Recycle Pizza Boxes?

It's not a short 'yes' or 'no' answer. You kind of can, maybe.

Guidance from the city of Davenport says that if you have a greasy pizza box to get rid of, you can rip off any part of the box that isn't super greasy (like the top of it), and put that part in the recycling bin, while putting the greasy half in the trash.

That would be because extra food and grease and ick that has stayed on the pizza box makes it unusable to be recycled, and can also contaminate any other items in the bin, according to recycling company Republic Services. So the bottom half of that box that just housed that greasy delicious pizza probably should just go in the trash.

So if the entire box is super greasy from bouncing around in the delivery car, skip recycling it. But if part of it is clean, it's good to be recycled. It's a rule of thumb to just not recycle anything with food residue on it.