Curbside Recycling

Curbside recycling program with materials accepted and prepartion.

A successful recycling campaign requires a successful relationship between the City of Raleigh, its residents and the processors who receive, sort, bale and market the material. It's imperative that only materials listed below be placed in recycling containers. Properly prepared recyclables must be placed in the recycling bin or cart and put at the curb, not in the street, by 7 a.m. on your designated collection day.

The following items are collected for recycling in Raleigh's curbside program:

• Glass food and beverage containers;
• Food and beverage cans;
• Aluminum foil and trays;
• Plastic items #1 though #5 and #7 (see Unacceptable Items for exceptions);
• Plastic beverage rings;
• Gable top cartons (discard caps);
• Aseptic drink boxes (discard straws);
• Newspaper and all inserts (recycle any plastic delivery bags at grocery stores);
• Magazines and catalogs;
• Telephone books;
• White and colored paper, including junk mail (discard bold or neon colors);
• Shredded paper (placed inside a brown paper bag, stapled closed, and marked "shredded paper")
• Corrugated cardboard pieces no larger than three-feet-by-three-feet in size; and,
• Paperboard, chipboard and paper tubes
• Spiral paper cans (examples include nuts, Pringles, Pillsbury)

You can help collection crews by preparing the recyclable materials before putting them in your recycling container. General guidelines include:

• Lightly rinse glass, metal and plastic containers.
• Lids of steel food cans should be inside the can for safety.
• Crush beverage cans.
• Recyclable items should be free of food debris.
• NO food contaminated paper products can be recycled (NO PIZZA BOXES!)
• Remember to fasten the tie straps on recycling bins and close lids on recycle carts to avoid littering. (Call 919-996-6890 if you need new straps and the City will mail them to you.)

For residents using the 18-gallon recycling bin, prepared cardboard can be placed in the bin, or stacked alongside the bin. For residents using the 95- or 65-gallon roll carts, all flattened cardboard must fit inside the cart. Residents with a lot of cardboard, and do not want to reduce it to suitable pieces can remove packing materials, flatten it and take it to one of the City's drop off recycling centers.

The recycling bin or carts has been provided by the City of Raleigh for recycling purposes only. The recycling cart has an RFID code embedded inside it that is geo-coded to that particular address. If you move, please leave the recycling container for the next resident to use. (Leaving it in the garage, backyard, or at the side door next to the garbage cart works best.)

Questions? Call 919.996.6890, or, when in doubt, toss it out!

* Aluminum cans and plastic BOTTLES are BANNED from disposal in N.C. landfills! Are YOU recycling? *