Check with your recycling/waste company to find out what's recyclable in your community. 

*Please note that the City of Greensboro no longer accepts glass with curbside recycling pickup. Recycle your glass at these locations instead. 

Recycling conserves resources, saves energy and valuable space in our landfills.  Here’s a list of the materials that most services accept:

Plastic Bottles, Tubs, & Jugs:  Recycle all soda, water, sports drinks, shampoo, milk, juice, sour cream, margarine, yogurt, etc.  Items should be clean and dry before going into the bin.  Remove caps and covers.

Glass Bottles & Jars: Recycle glass only from food or drink containers. No perfume bottles, light bulbs, window panes, glass dishes, or cookware. All colors of glass are accepted—clear, green, brown, and blue. Items should be clean with the caps removed. (Check with your hauler for restrictions.)

All Cans – Aluminum, Tin & Steel: Recycle aluminum beverage cans, tin and steel food cans that are clean.  Throw away jagged metal can covers since they can harm people working at the recycling center.

Newspapers: Only clean, dry newspapers can be recycled. Discard wrappers, bags, and rubber bands. You may place the newspapers into a brown paper bag before recycling them – no plastic bags, please!  Plastic bags can be returned to the grocery store for recycling.  

Magazines & Junk Mail: Recycle all magazines, catalogs, junk mail, and inserts that are clean and dry. Remove all plastic wrappers.

Cardboard: Recycle cardboard that has not been contaminated with food or liquid. Before placing cardboard in your recycling bin, be sure to flatten boxes. Pizza boxes are okay as long as they are not contaminated with food or grease.

Chipboard: Examples include tissue boxes, cereal and other food packaging boxes. Remove and discard box liners and flatten boxes before placing them into your recycling bin.

Styrofoam: The Triad Foam Recycling Coalition accepts foam, corrugated cardboard, and plastic bags for recycling. More information can be found here.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind: Never place plastic bags in your recycling container; they will not be recycled. Plastic bags get caught in the sorting machinery. Keep other "tanglers" like holiday lights and wires out of the recycling bin as well.

• It isn’t necessary to remove labels from cans, bottles and jars.
• All materials can be mixed together in your recycling container.
• All materials should be clean and dry when placed in your recycling container.
• Don’t recycle cardboard and paper that is contaminated with food or liquids.
• Never place tissues, paper towels, paper plates or foil/shiny gift wrap in your recycling container.
• When in doubt - toss it out.

Questions or Comments?
Click here if you have questions or need additional information.