Austin Blue Cart Recycling: What Goes in the Bin

Austin blue cart recycling: what goes in

Austin blue cart recycling is mixed. Paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, metal cans, and hard plastic can go in together. The city also accepts food and beverage cartons and coated paper, including coffee cups. Rinse containers. Caps can stay on. Flatten cardboard to about two feet by two feet. The cart lid is the size guide.

Do not bag the load. A tied plastic bag is a common reason material is thrown out. Bags, wrap, foam, batteries, and cords have a different route. See Austin plastic bag drop off and Austin battery recycling.

Austin blue cart recycling works only when the pieces are empty enough to be sorted. A greasy pizza box belongs with compost or trash, not with clean cardboard. A peanut-butter jar is fine once it is scraped and rinsed.

Austin blue cart recycling on your day

Austin blue cart recycling is collected every other week for houses through four-plexes. Put the cart out by 5:30 a.m. Leave about five feet between carts. Do not block a sidewalk or a bike lane. Your week is on the Austin TX recycle schedule.

If the lid will not close, set the extra beside the cart in a cardboard box or a reusable bin no bigger than the cart. A second blue cart is free. Call 512-494-9400. If the truck misses you, call 3-1-1 within two days. The city lists a paid return trip at $21.20.

Austin blue cart recycling is not the same service as a dumpster at a large apartment. Those properties use a different contract. Ask the office before you leave material beside a shared bin.

The official list is on the Austin residential recycling page. Check it when a new package shows up, because cartons were added and other items still stay out.

What to leave out of austin blue cart recycling

Leave out plastic bags, film, Styrofoam, batteries, electronics, paint, and propane tanks. Those go to a drop-off, not the curb. Start with the Austin recycle and reuse center, which takes many of them by appointment.

After austin blue cart recycling day, roll the cart back so it does not sit in the street. A clean cart and a loose load are the whole habit.