Can Frozen Food Boxes Go in the Recycling Bin in Massachusetts?

It's a chore that we all have to do. Grocery shopping. Although shopping for groceries can be time-consuming and feel like work many stores in Massachusetts offer delivery right to your car which started becoming an option during the pandemic. There are three stores that I shop at in the Berkshires regularly for groceries and I always choose the delivery to my vehicle option. For me, it makes life a bit easier.

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Before you do any grocery shopping for the week, you probably have to empty the fridge a bit and make room for your new products. That milk that you couldn't finish before the expiration date has to be tossed in the garbage. You know what I'm talking about. The items that I get confused about are the frozen food boxes. When I throw them out after a meal, do I toss them in the garbage or the cardboard/paper recycling bin? I'm never really sure. You may have asked yourself this question too.

Does Massachusetts Allow You to Recycle Frozen Food Boxes? 

You may remember a while back that I published an article discussing whether or not Massachusetts allows folks to place pizza boxes in the recycling bin. You can check out that article and find out more about the pizza box question by going here. Well, that is also a good question regarding frozen dinner boxes. The answer for frozen food boxes is "no". Here is the reason why according to Earth911:

The plastic coating sprayed on frozen food boxes makes the paperboard underneath impossible to recycle in the standard pulp process because the container will not break apart during recycling, as is required.

So, next time you throw a frozen food box away make sure it goes in the trash bucket instead of the recycling bin.