Recycle

Recycling saves energy, water, and natural resources. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps create jobs.

Acceptable Items

All recycling should be clean, empty, and dry.

Paper and Cardboard: Clean paper, junk mail, envelopes cardboard (flatten boxes) and newspaper.

Plastic Containers: Bottles, jugs, and tubs.

Metal: Aluminum trays and foil, food and beverage cans.

Glass: Bottles and jars.

Below are a few common items found in the recycle cart and bin that prevent your recyclable material from being turned into new products.

Non-recyclable plastic: Plastic bags, film plastic, bubble wrap, toys, and single-use utensils.

Trash: Polystyrene containers and peanuts, clothing and textiles, diapers, and pet waste.

Compostables: Food and food-soiled paper.

Tanglers: Hoses, ropes, and hangers.

Hazardous Waste: Propane tanks, needles, light bulbs, flammable or poisonous items, medication, and e-waste.

Set up waste sorting stations in your home or business so you can sort recycling throughout your day. Make custom recycle, compost, trash signage.
Do not recycle based on the recycling symbol or number. DO Recycle plastics by shapes (bottles, tubs and jugs)!
Remove all liquids from glass and plastic bottles, scrape food from plastic take out containers, salad bowls, food jars and tubs. Paper and cardboard should be dry.
Break down your cardboard boxes to save room in your cart. Flatten boxes or cut down to 3’ by 3’. Place extra flattened carboard boxes next to your cart at home for service.

Do not bag recyclables. Place them loose in the cart/bin. Bagging recyclables in plastic bags will result in recycling treated as trash and will end up in the landfill.
When film plastic and plastic bags get mixed in with other recyclables, they’re difficult to sort out, and often jam or damage the machines at the recycling facility and slow down the recycling process.
Food, liquids, and trash in the recycle cart/bin ruins the entire load. Putting recyclables in the correct cart also keeps recycling material out of the landfill.
Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 7,000 gallons of water and about 24 trees

Some beverage cans and bottles sold in our state have a deposit – or California Redemption Value (CRV) – to encourage recycling and reduce litter:

You can redeem these to receive per container:

Redemption centers in Oakland:

CalRecycle’s map of redemption centers can be found here. Learn about California’s Beverage Container Deposit System here.