It also says:<p>&gt; “Unfortunately the bags themselves can’t be recycled—they are too dirty, so they will end up in a landfill.” This holds true for all plastic items that haven’t been cleaned properly—hence, the leaflets calling for us to “rinse our recyclables.” The cleaner a plastic bottle is, the more likely it will be marked for reincarnation as something new.<p>That bit happens before the washing, so I think the advice to wash plastics is correct. Sounds like there may not be harm in placing all plastics into the recycling bin regardless of their cleanliness, though; sounds like they&#x27;ll just end up as waste if not clean enough.