Why would my recycling be left at the curb?

There are several common problems to be aware of in terms of preparing your recycling for collection. Please avoid these common problems to ensure pickup of your recycling:

• No plastic bags -- The processing facility that receives our recyclable material does not accept plastic bags, so please do not put your newspapers or cans and bottles into plastic bags. In fact, plastic bags which can cause problems for the automated systems, have to be manually removed. Most plastic bags can be brought to your local grocery store for recycling.
• Do not put paper loose in the recycling bin -- All paper items should be together in paper bags, and containers should be loose in the bin. The only exception to this is with cardboard, discussed next.
• Unflattened and/or Large Cardboard -- Cardboard that is larger than 30 inches by 30 inches will not fit in the recycling truck, and unflattened cardboard causes the truck to fill up too quickly since the material is not compacted. All cardboard should be flattened and can be placed in the paper bag with the rest of your papers, or can be tied with string, stood up between a couple recycling bins, or placed under your recycling bin.
• Dirty (Contaminated) Recyclables -- Containers that are not rinsed out and paper or cardboard with food waste can contaminate the rest of the truckload and result in additional processing costs.