Residential Recycling Program

Recology San Benito County Recycling Cart

Recycling is more important than ever to customers of Recology San Benito County. There is a pressing need to preserve our environment, save natural resources and reduce the amount of garbage going to landfills. In order to keep our communities safe and clean, we all must pitch in to help recycle and reuse as much as possible.

We provide a convenient curbside recycling collection program for both recyclables and yard waste. This service is available to all residential customers and is collected on the same day as your normal garbage collection.

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Residential Recycling Flyer

Acceptable Recycling Materials Only place recyclable materials into your blue container! Please empty and rinse all food and beverage containers and remove the caps and lids from the containers before placing them into the blue recycling cart. You do not need to remove any labels.
Household Batteries Put AAA-D, 9V, alkaline, rechargeable and button cell batteries in a zippered plastic bag on TOP of your recycling cart. No car batteries. Glass All colors of bottles and jars. We accept both California Redemption Value (CRV) and Non-redeemed containers. Glass Bottles (beer, juice, liquor, soda, wine) Glass Jars (apple sauce, pasta sauce, mayonnaise) Metal You do not need to crush cans. Aluminum cans (soda and beer cans) Tin Cans (vegetable & meat products, pet food, soup) Plastic Plastic containers with recycle symbol #1-#7. Detergent and shampoo containers Milk and orange juice jugs Soda & water bottles	Paper Most clean and dry household paper: Brown paper bags Cardboard (please flatten cardboard and wrap it with twine in bundles no larger than two feet by three feet) Chipboard (cereal, crackers, shoes or gifts) Junk mail and catalogs Magazines, catalogs and phone books (includes glossy publications) Newspaper (include inserts) Office paper (all colors) Paperboard egg cartons (not Styrofoam)

Unacceptable Recycling Materials Please do not place the following non-recyclable materials into your blue container!
Construction Debris Concrete, rocks, dirt Electronic / Universal Waste Televisions, computers, cell phones, fluorescent light bulbs, mercury switches Green Waste Grass, leaves, tree and bush cuttings	Household Hazardous Waste Paints, solvents, cooking oil, motor oil, cleaners, corrosives, fuel tanks - propane tanks non-recyclable Glass, Metal, Paper and Plastic

Used Motor Oil and Filters

Residential customers can place used motor oil and oil filters out for collection. Place these items next to your blue toter on collection day. Oil and filters must be in containers provided by Recology San Benito County or they will not be collected. Oil Jugs and Oil Filter bags are provided free of charge by Recology San Benito County to customers.

Please contact us to order your free jugs and filter bags.

Close the Loop -- Buy Recycled!

There is another important step to recycling: buying products made with recycled content. When you purchase products with recycled content, manufacturers will continue to use recyclables in their products and will expand their use to other products.

Compare labels to find the product with the highest percentage of "post-consumer" recycled content. ("Post-consumer" is the material you recycle in your curbside bin.) Many products, such as greeting cards, tissue, toilet paper and paper towels, offer a variety of recycled-content choices. Be sure to look for the recycling symbol! Other products, such as aluminum cans, almost always contain high post-consumer recycled content, even if the can doesn't have the symbol.

Remember to look for the familiar "chasing arrows" recycling symbol when you shop!

REUSE -- Leave less for the future!

You can help the environment and your pocketbook by buying reusable products. Consider using sponges, dish towels, and cloth napkins in place of paper towels and disposable napkins. Use rechargeable batteries and products in reusable packaging such as glass jars.

Instead of throwing that old coat or dress away, consider donating your unwanted household items to a nonprofit or church-run thrift store. Search the internet or Yellow Pages for "consignment", "second hand", "thrift", "antiques", or "clothing - used" or "furniture dealers - used".