Should You Recycle Your Greasy Pizza Box in Connecticut?

Do you live with a recycle cop? I do, it's my wife. She polices the garbage that I throw into the trash, and hands out verbal citations when I throw a piece of plastic or cardboard in with the true trash. The gray area for both of us is a pizza box. Which trash can? Regular or Recycle? In Connecticut, the answer is both.

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According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, it depends on the condition of the box. If you have a pristine piece of cardboard, delicately sheltered from the steaming mass of mootz and hot oil by a sheet of parchment paper, huck that clean dog into the recycling bin. On the other hand, if you have a soggy mixture of mushrooms, cardboard, and half-eaten crusts, that belongs with the general trash.

For example, here's a recent dilemma. What you see above is large Eggplant Parm from Martino's Pizzeria on Davis Street in Oakville. Being that they truly are Home of the Giant Slice, the pizza kind of spills over the parchment into the precious cardboard. But, is it enough to warrant a trip into the blue?

Here's one that I got from Cibo on Federal Road in Brookfield, that one went right into my face, and then into the recycling bin. Most places add that protective layer of wax paper, but some pizzas are so oily, a river or grease seeps through. That's when you throw out the entire box.

Want to save even more sturdy cardboard? Order the beautiful pizza at Domenic's & Vinnie's in Middlebury, Southington, and Waterbury, they come in an old school brown paper bag.