Right now, Miami-Dade County generates 5 million tons of trash each year and only 37 percent of that is ever recycled.

And Broward County is right behind with similar stats.

So now, more than ever, it’s so important that all of us not only recycle, but recycle correctly.

“Sixty percent of the people want to recycle, but they’re confused and they don’t know how, and they are making mistakes,” said Dawn McCormick, of Waste Management Inc. of Florida.

And because most of us are doing it wrong, more and more cities can’t afford to do it any more.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is putting their recycling in plastic bags. That’s a big no, no. Under no circumstances are plastic bags ever recyclable.

“It’s a huge problem. It adds costs, it damages machinery,” McCormick explained.

The bags get tangled in the machines and make a big mess. Instead, dump your recyclables loose in your bin.

That also means no plastic grocery bags, no plastic shopping bags and no plastic dry cleaning covers. It doesn’t matter what they say: they are not recyclable.

Less than 9% of plastics are ever recycled and just because you throw it in the bin, doesn’t mean it’s getting recycled.

This is called “wish cycling.” It clogs the machinery and brings the entire process to a grinding halt.

Workers then have to remove all those contaminates by hand and haul them away, and guess who pays for that?

“In many of our contracts, we charge as much as $55 a ton extra just to handle that garbage,” McCormick said.

Solo cups, plastic cups and plastic utensils are also not recyclable. These are single use plastics, meaning you use them once and then throw them away.

But there is no away. They end up in landfills or worse, in our waterways, oceans and beaches where it can take plastics up to 500 years to biodegrade.

So what can be recycled? The most in-demand plastic the market wants is the No. 1 PETE -- that’s the kind of plastic found in water and soda bottles, oils, dressings and peanut butter jars -- just make sure you rinse it out!

“You don’t want food residue in any of the material,” McCormick said.

Next is the No. 2 HDPE, or high-density polyethylene. That’s the kind of plastic used in milk jugs, detergent and household cleaning containers.

Lastly, there’s the No. 5 plastic, polypropylene. It’s what most dairy tubs are made of.

The problem is only 3% of these are actually bought by the market, so the rest end up in landfills. That means if plastic isn’t a number 1 or number 2, chances are it’s not getting recycled.

What is always recyclable? Cans! But incredibly, most people just throw them away.

“We’re only recycling about 20 percent of our cans. So there’s a lot of cans out there that are going into the garbage,” McCormick said.

Same goes for paper and boxes. Recyclers want that!

High in demand right now is cardboard. Just make sure you flatten it first before you put it in the bin. And yes, that even means pizza boxes.

“If you can empty your pizza box and it’s relatively clean, then we do want it,” McCormick said.

Remember to recycle right: No plastic bags ever! Only clean, dry, empty cardboard, paper, bottles and cans.

“Recycling works when you do it right,” McCormick said. “When in doubt, throw it out in the garbage.”

With landfill space quickly running out in both Miami-Dade and Broward, recycling correctly has never been more urgent. There’s even a website that was just launched and that we recently featured to make the process so much easier and eliminate the guessing game.

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