DO YOUR PART AT THE CART!
By learning what items can be recycled and what belongs in the trash, you can help Fresno County reduce recycling contamination. This ultimately allows our County to avoid the added costs of separating items that don’t belong in the blue carts. Let’s sort it out!
WHY RECYCLING MATTERS IN FRESNO COUNTY
Recycling is important to everyone in Fresno County, and it has a positive impact on our environment. When you recycle an item in your blue cart instead of throwing it in the trash, you help reduce the amount of waste that’s sent to our landfills. Just like conserving energy or water, recycling allows us to conserve materials and ultimately reduces costs. So remember: reduce, reuse and recycle!
DID YOU KNOW?
- Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to power a TV for three hours.
- For every ton of cardboard recycled, 46 gallons of oil are saved.
- Recycling a stack of newspaper just three feet high saves one tree.
- Recycling just one glass jar saves enough electricity to light an 11 watt CFL bulb for 20 hours.
WHAT YOU CAN RECYCLE – AND HOW TO DO IT THE RIGHT WAY
Blue or gray cart? To recycle or not to recycle? It can be confusing, but we’re here to help!
- Mixed waste paper (including office/computer paper, egg cartons, grocery bags, shoe boxes, cereal or food boxes, magazines, junk mail, catalogs, phone books, envelopes)
- Glass containers
- Plastic bottles
- Milk, juice & soy cartons
- Scrap metal
- Steel or tin cans
- Aluminum beverage containers
Follow these simple tips to make sure you’re recycling the right way:
- Place only clean paper and cardboard in the blue cart
- Rinse, wipe, and dry your plastic, glass, and metal containers
- Keep food and liquids out of the blue cart
- Do not bag your recyclables
COUNTY RECYCLING – WHO’S MY WASTE HAULER?
Not sure how you can recycle? Unincorporated Fresno County and special districts have routine waste haulers for rural, mountain, and urban county islands. To learn more about your community, click here:
RECYCLING: GOOD FOR OUR COMMUNITY, GREAT FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Fresno County's Recycling Market Development Zone ("RMDZ") Program combines recycling efforts with business growth. We’ll help your business develop a plan to create products or raw materials from recycled content, and we can help market those recycled products. We also offer loans to offset the costs to produce recycled materials to businesses, non-profits and other organizations. For more information on business and commercial recycling, click here
WHAT ABOUT TIRES?
Tires can contribute to landfill fires, so it’s important to drop them off in a safe location.
Any Fresno County or unincorporated County resident can dispose of used tires at the following location:
American Avenue Disposal Site 18950 W. American Avenue, Kerman, 93630
The cost to drop off your used tires is as low as $2.16 per tire, and you can bring up to 9 tires.
Special permitting is required to haul more than 9 tires at any one time. To obtain permitting, residents need to call the Department of Public Health’s Environmental Health Division at (559) 600-3271.
HOUSEHOLD ITEMS THAT REQUIRE SPECIAL HANDLING
THE Non-Exclusive Waste Hauler Agreement, or NEWHA, program requires that large volume haulers be permitted. Permits are needed for hauling bins 10 cubic yards or larger. Projects that usually require large volume haulers are construction projects, demolition projects, and large scale cleanup projects.
Green waste is organic material that is created in your yard. This includes sticks, landscape trimmings and more. Green waste includes the following materials, and they belong in your green cart:
- Plants (potted or in flower beds, living or dead)
- Grass trimmings
- Shrubs, bushes & brush
- Wood & wood chips (untreated, uncoated)
OUR REUSE CENTER
Let’s Sort It Out
When it comes to recycling, some things just don’t mix. Many items end up in our blue recycling carts that don’t belong — and blending the “recycling do’s and don’ts” together can be tough to sort out.
“Contamination” is when an item is placed in the blue cart that could potentially ruin the entire load of material. It includes food residue on a glass jar or a soda can that’s still half-full. Here are some tips on how to reduce cart contamination and maximize your recycling efforts:
- Empty & rinse bottles, tubs, jugs & jars
- Remove pumps
- Empty & rinse cans (Watch out for those sharp edges!)
- Flatten cardboard and cut down into smaller pieces when possible for more recycling room (Remember to be safety-minded when using scissors, boxcutters, and other cutting tools!)
- Empty & rinse bottles & jars
What Doesn’t Belong?
Sometimes, people aren’t sure whether something can be recycled, so they place it in the blue cart because it feels like they’re doing the right thing. But hoping something will get recycled when it should be thrown in the trash only leads to more cart contamination!
Below are common items found in many blue carts that belong in your gray trash cart:
- Plastic bags (do not bag recyclables)
- Garbage bags
- E-waste & batteries
- Scrap metal & hangers
- Food (including food residue on paper, plastic, metal & glass)
- Styrofoam® & clamshell containers
- Pizza boxes
- Garden hoses
- Metal and plastic car parts
- Kid's toys and swimming pools