Recycling: What goes in your curbside recycling bin? Follow these tips for success
It never fails. You thought you prepared the perfect curbside recycling bin only to arrive home to find items left behind. You then wonder, what did I do wrong? Why were these items left in my bin?
Our curbside recycling crews are directed to only accept items that are prepared correctly and that are accepted in our recycling program.
I have listed curbside recycling tips below that, when followed, will ensure your items are taken every time you put your bin out. Remember — if we left it in your bin, it doesn’t go in.
Plastic bottles, jugs & jars
Place rinsed plastic bottles, jugs and jars loose in the bin. Lids may remain on. Only plastic bottles, jugs and jars are accepted in your curbside recycling bin.
Do not place plastic yogurt containers, margarine/butter tubs, cottage cheese and sour cream containers, dessert topping containers, strawberry/blueberry/raspberry containers, muffin/baked goods containers, lettuce/salad bar containers and plastic food storage containers in your curbside bin.
We offer six drop-off locations where plastic containers can be recycled. Each of the locations houses either a large red container or gray cube containers marked “miscellaneous plastics.”
- Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority, 253 Transfer Road, Bellefonte
- Patton Township, 2598 Green Tech Drive, State College
- CVS, 127 S. Potter St., Bellefonte
- Hamilton Square Shopping Center, 244 W. Hamilton Ave., State College
- Snappy’s Convenience Store, 2892 Earlystown Road, Centre Hall
- Rush Township Building, 150 Richard St., Philipsburg
Steel & aluminum
Put rinsed aluminum, steel and tin cans loose in the bin. Also accepted are empty aerosol cans, clean aluminum foil, empty paint cans, pie pans and spiral cans (think breadcrumb containers).
Glass
Place rinsed clear, green, blue and brown glass bottles, jugs and jars loose in your bin. Metal lids from glass jars can also be placed in the bin. Labels do not need to be removed.
Corrugated cardboard
Flatten corrugated cardboard (boxes with the thick, wavy center) and place next to or under your bin.
Paper
Paper seems to be the trickiest to prepare since paper is the only item that must be bagged or bundled so that it doesn’t blow out of the bins or trucks. Bag or bundle all clean office paper, mixed paper, paperboard/pressboard (think cereal/tissue boxes), magazines and newspaper together and place in the bin. Remember – bag/bundle all of your paper. Loose paper cannot be collected even though it is recyclable.
Follow these tips each week to make the perfect curbside recycling bin. We have created a colorful, picture-filled Guide to Curbside Recycling that is available at www.centrecountyrecycles.org that can help as well. I am always available to answer questions. Give me a call at 814-238-7005 or by email at aschirf@centrecountyrecycles.org.
Thank you for recycling (right!).