You cannot recycle plastic bags, films and wrappers in your blue cart. We process recyclables at two local recycling processing facilities that use automated systems to sort and bale the recyclables. Take plastic shopping bags to your local grocery stores or to the Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center to be recycled.

Unrecyclable Plastic

• Plastic bags, films, and packaging (can be recycled at the front of grocery stores like HEB, Central Market, Randalls, Whole Foods, and Wal-Mart)
• Ziplock baggies.
• Trash bags.
• Strings of lights and other long, flexible materials (find a recycle and reuse drop off center)

The city says these are the types of items that can be recycled in a regular curbside bin:

• Paper, like envelopes and newspapers.
• Boxboard and cardboard, including things like shoeboxes, beverage boxes and paper towel rolls.
• Aluminum foil, clean and balled 2 inches of larger.
• Food cans and caps/lids.
• Soda cans and caps/lids.

Recycle and compost correctly – a recent city-wide study showed that more than 80% of everything Austin sent to landfill could have been recycled or composted. By recycling and composting correctly we keep these materials out the landfill move closer to zero waste.

Austin’s composting rules are few:

• No cat litter, cigarette butts, diapers, pet waste, animal carcasses, rocks, wine corks, Styrofoam or other trash.
• You can compost meat, but you shouldn’t put bacon grease or other oil in the bin.
• The only plastic bags you can use are the small BPI-certified compostable bags.

The answer is basically, yes. “The goal is to eventually go composting organic citywide, [and] weekly recycling pick up,” says Memi Cardenas, a spokesperson for Austin Resource Recovery.

A few items that are on the “do not recycle” list include paint cans, oil jugs, antifreeze jugs, pesticide containers, and household cleaners. Milk & Juice Cartons. The City of Austin’s single stream recycling program currently does not accept these cartons (not to be confused with cardboard).

Milk and juice cartons are normally sprayed with a plastic coating on both sides, which makes it hard for the composting process to break down the paper. It is best recycled through paper pulping process which can extract the paper fiber.

The next thing you know, it’s taking up space in your trash can (since Austin is not currently set up to recycle styrofoam through single stream recycling) and being carted off to the landfill. While Austin Creative Reuse also cannot accept styrofoam, you can find a new home for it with a tiny bit of effort.

Recycling:

1. All Styrofoam must be clean and dry to drop it off at the Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center.
2. Trash. Put this item in your trash cart.
3. Set-out Time. Place trash at the curb by 6:30 a.m. on your scheduled collection day.
4. Special Instructions.

These options range from companies that will pick mattresses up from your home (i.e. WE DO THIS!), along with drop off locations and donation centers.

1. Option #1: A Bed’r World (Austin) – Mattress Pick Up & Disposal Services.
2. Option #2: Search the City of Austin Reuse Directory.
3. Option #3: Post it on Craigslist.

The City of Austin’s Recycle & Reuse Drop Off Center is located at 2514 Business Center Drive, 78744. They are currently accepting plastic, glass, aluminum, paper, cardboard, electronics, batteries, light bulbs and STYROFOAM! Click on the link above for hours of operation & a complete list of accepted materials.

Austinites can drop yard trimmings and large brush at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant (2210 FM 973, Austin, Texas) 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday–Saturday.

We have the answers.

1. Drop cardboard at your local recycling center. Most cities or counties have a recycling center.
2. Give them away for reuse.
3. Give them away for composting.
4. Look into a bulky goods collection.
5. Rent a cardboard dumpster.
6. One final suggestion: How to buy or find large amounts of recycled cardboard boxes.

Cartons are recyclable. Made from mostly paper, cartons are in high demand to be made into new products. Manufacturers of cartons have joined forces in the Carton Council to increase access to carton recycling across the United States.

Plastic bottles, for instance, are generally best crushed (and left with caps on) when thrown in the recycling bin. Aluminum cans, however, are a rare exception, as Popular Science noted last week. It turns out that if cans are crushed or flattened, you’re often making the jobs of recycling facilities that much harder.

Shelf-stable cartons contain a layer of aluminum. As such, milk cartons should be recycled with plastic, metal, and glass containers. Ultimately, the cartons will be sorted separately at the recycling facility and disposed of properly. You don’t need to rinse out cartons before recycling.

Most plastic milk containers are made from high-density polyethylene, also known as HDPE or No. 2 plastic. Plastic milk jugs have a lot going for them. The jugs are also recyclable, at least in theory.