Most small items, except for those that are magnetic and can be automatically extracted, are typically filtered out of the recycling system.

• small bits of paper including clean paper straws and price tags
• small bits of plastic
• small bits of non-ferrous metal
• small bits of glass
• small bits of wood or other organic material
• small mixed-material items
• small bits of fabric, string, ribbon, etc

Meaning that even if the material is technically recyclable, if it is small enough to fall through the 6cm filter grate at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF), then there is no point putting it in a recycling bin. Throw it in the trash. 

Recycling can only happen if the material can get shipped from the sorting facility (MRF) to the recycling company. This is done in bails (see image below). Small items cannot be securely bailed up so they have to be discarded. 

Bits of plastic, non-magnetic metal, glass and paper should all be thrown in the trash.