Anyone who truly cares about the planet's future should take the time to get acquainted with the do's and don'ts of recycling. The same goes for anyone concerned about the St. Louis city budget and making sure taxpayer dollars aren't squandered on workers having to sift through and discard items that have no business being tossed into recycling bins. Either way, people need to pay attention to the rules to make sure the recycling program doesn't wind up in the trash heap of history.

Cynics abound regarding the ways taxpayers are charged for recycling services that don't always live up to promises. During the pandemic, recycling pickups were canceled, meaning that all waste was sent off to landfills — and yet, taxpayers were still charged the recycling fee. That never made sense and only tended to add to the levels of cynicism. A number of nations that accept recycling waste have either stopped the practice or have been caught dumping instead of processing the waste.

Aldermanic President Megan Green recently told the Post-Dispatch's Austin Huguelet that, because of various factors, only about a third of the waste in city recycling bins actually winds up being recycled. "Even if we're only recycling a third, it's better than nothing," she said. "But we definitely need to improve on the system."

A shortage of Refuse Division truck drivers has made the collection problem even worse. And if household garbage gets mixed into a bigger load of genuine recycling waste, it can spoil the entire load and be rejected by the recycling company. Rejection forces the city to send another truck to recollect the waste and haul it to the city landfill — adding to overall costs.

Some cities have canceled their recycling programs altogether. That shouldn't be an option for St. Louis. The amount of non-biodegradable plastic already going into landfills is far too high, and plastics are finding their way into streams, rivers and oceans, choking off the very waterborne life that sustains human existence.

So what are the rules? The Republic Services recycling guide is one of the easiest to understand and follow. First of all, the don'ts: Do not throw greasy, cheesy pizza boxes into the recycling bin. Also: No food waste, appliances, batteries, bubble wrap, plastic bags, tires or waxed cartons.

Just about any paper item, including newspapers, envelopes, junk mail, phone books and magazines can be recycled. Milk cartons are recyclable. Plastics marked with the "chasing arrows" triangle carrying the numbers 1 through 7 can be recycled — including shampoo and detergent bottles. Clean glass containers also are acceptable, depending on the location.

Sifting through recyclable versus non-recyclable items might seem like more hassle than it's worth, but if more residents do it properly, taxpayer dollars will wind up being used more efficiently while helping achieve a far-more worthwhile goal: Saving the planet.

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