
Reduce Contamination.
Recycle Right SC.
Participate in South Carolina’s statewide anti-contamination campaign.
Learn more. Do more.

“Wishful recycling” occurs when items are put in the recycling bin that you hope will be recycled or you think should be recycled. This leads to contamination in the recycling stream.

Recycling contamination occurs when the wrong items are placed in the recycling bin (ex. garden hose) OR items accepted for recycling are prepared incorrectly (ex. food/liquid left in containers).

It’s important to know what is accepted in your area. Visit scdhec.gov/recycleheresc to know where and what to recycle. An interaction map is also available to use.

South Carolina Recycling
By the Numbers for Fiscal Year 2021
23.9%
state recycling rate
531,621
tons of residential recycling
45%
residential percentage of all recycled material
88
recycling programs
Source: “Solid Waste Management Annual Report” at www.scdhec.gov/datareports. The fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30 of the next year.
