Office Of Recycling: Residential Recycling

Residential Recycling

What Can I Recycle?

Place all recyclables—glass, plastic bottles, metal cans, and mixed paper—in one container. All material must be clean. Do not put trash, garbage, or non-recyclables in your recycling cart or bin.

Glass (Do Not Include Broken Glass! Dangerous!)
Yes	Emptied and Rinsed glass food and beverage containers should be recycled. Lids and labels can stay on.
No	Dishes, light bulbs, fluorescent bulbs*, windows, mirror glass, or glass cookware. They melt at a different temperature from glass bottles.

Metal (Do Not Crush)
Yes	Emptied and Rinsed tin, aluminum, and steel food and beverage cans. Lids and labels can stay on. Clean aluminum pie plates and foil. Do not crush metal containers.
No	Auto parts, kitchen supplies, bicycles, and furniture.

Plastic Bottles (Okay to Flatten)
Yes	Emptied narrow-necked bottles. These include water, soda, milk, juice, and detergent bottles. Lids and labels can stay on.
No	Bottles from automotive products, pesticides, or other toxins. Do not include butter tubs, medicine bottles, Styrofoam, plastic food wrapping, or toys. Plastic grocery bags cannot be recycled by residential collection and should not be included nor used for curbside pick-up. Recycle plastic bags with cooperating grocery stores.

Paper (Place in Bin. Do Not Tie Up. Paper Bagging Discouraged but Acceptable)
Yes	Mixed papers - Recycle all papers together including white and colored papers, envelopes, forms, file folders, tablets, junk mail, cereal boxes, wrapping paper, catalogs, magazines, and phone books. It is okay to include metal staples, paper clips, glue, labels, and plastic windows on envelopes. Please remove plastic bindings and dividers. Paper-based egg cartons are okay, if clean. Photos are okay, but not "instant" film (e.g. Polaroids). Newspaper - All inserts that come with the newspaper can be recycled with the newspaper. Place them loosely into the cart. Corrugated cardboard boxes and brown paper bags - Remove packaging, then flatten and place in cart or bin. Shredded paper - For residents shredding their outgoing fiber (usually for information security concerns), paper bagging is acceptable, but not recommended for any other reason.
No	Plastic-coated paper, blueprints, waxed cardboard, cups/plates, milk or juice cartons, disposable "drink boxes", food-contaminated paper, tissues, paper towels, or "instant" film (e.g. Polaroids).

* Fluorescent bulbs and other mercury-containing items (e.g. thermometers) are best disposed of at residential Household Hazardous Waste Collection sites. Visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to find out what to do when a mercury-containing item breaks.

Do not put the following items in your recycling cart or bin:

Carpet/upholstery
Carry-out containers
Clothing
Diapers
Furniture/toys
Hardback books
Kitchen appliances or utensils
Leaves/dirt
Pizza boxes
Wire hangers

To Request Services

Call the Mayor's Citywide Call Center at 311.
Service Request Center