Recycling can be confusing. You can’t recycle pizza boxes but you can recycle some toys in your city-issued, blue recycling bin, for example. And, it seems the rules are always changing – the city just started allowing food and beverage cartons and coated paper products to be put in blue bins.
We’re here to help. Here’s your guide to recycling in Austin:
👍 What You Can Recycle
The city has a handy list of what you can recycle on its website and a “What do I do with?” tool where you can look up what to do with specific items. Here’s what you definitely can recycling your blue bin:
- Catalogs/magazines
- Empty coated paper products (cups, plates and takeout food containers)
- Empty food and beverage cartons (including gable topped, like milk and juice cartons)
- Glossy paper
- Junk mail/envelopes
- Newspapers
- Non-foil wrapping paper
- Empty buckets/baskets
- Empty jars/tubs
- Lawn chairs
- Non-battery toys
- Empty water/soda bottles
- Aluminum foil (balled 2 inches or larger)
- Aluminum foil baking pans
- Steel and tin cans
- Empty aerosol cans
- Bottles and bottle caps (labels can be left on containers)
- Empty jars and caps (labels can be left on containers)
- Cardboard boxes broken down into roughly 2'x2' squares
- Toilet paper and paper towel rolls
👎 What You Can’t Recycle
The following items cannot be recycled in your blue bin, but they can be recycled at the Recycle and Reuse Drop-off Center at 2514 Business Center Dr. The center is available by appointment only and you can schedule a drop-off online.
- Plastic bags
- Trash bags
- Plastic film and wrap
- Styrofoam
- Batteries
- Electronics
- Clothing and housewares
- Medical waste like syringes and sharp containers
- Partially full or full aerosol cans
- Sealed gas containers such as propane and helium tanks
- Textiles
- Water hoses
- Wood
