We often get asked which container to put our rubbish in, as there is selective waste collection in Slovakia. When it comes to rice bags, the best option is usually plastic or metal ones. After all, they are made of plastic! We all make mistakes sometimes! One common mistake in our households is not knowing where to throw away rice bags.
It’s so great to see that as many as nine out of ten Slovaks (87%) are sorting their waste regularly! The most problematic type of waste is kitchen waste, which is usually made of more than one material. It’s definitely worth doing a bit of research on this topic, because it’ll help the environment and your wallet too!
Where to throw away rice bags?
Rice bags are meant to make cooking and portioning food easier and prevent it from burning. However, this convenient solution causes waste separation problems. It seems logical that such waste belongs among plastics and metals.
- Meanwhile, rice or grits bags should be thrown away in the mixed waste. Rice bags that end up in the mixed waste will be subjected to biological treatment or incinerated.
I’m sure you’ll understand why this is the case, as unfortunately, cooked food packaging isn’t recyclable.
The good news is that incinerators for municipal waste are safe for the environment. Plus, the ash produced is used for all sorts of things, like paving roads. Modern furnaces are great because they produce energy when they burn, which is how we heat our homes!
It’s so important to be aware that high cooking temperatures can release BPA from rice bags, which can unfortunately lead to some pretty serious issues like hormonal disorders, allergies and even infertility.
Are rice bags harmful?
Just a little heads-up: Rice pouches can contain bisphenol A (BPA), which can transfer to food due to high cooking temperatures. You’ll also find it in lots of other products, like CDs, plastic bottles and metal cans. It’s so important to be careful with BPA, as it can cause some pretty serious problems if we’re exposed to it in too high quantities. These can include hormonal disorders, allergies and even infertility.
This is particularly worrying for little ones and mums-to-be. The good news is that in the European Union, BPA is banned in packaging that comes into contact with baby food.
It’s always best to cook rice without the pouches, as this means all those lovely nutrients stay in the rice and aren’t thrown away with the water in which the pouches were cooked.
