Do Not Recycle These Items

Don't Contaminate Recycling with Non-Recyclable Items
It is important to place only recyclable materials in your recycling cart.
See our flyer (PDF) for a complete list of acceptable recyclables.

Check to See if You Can Recycle These
Plastics
The only plastics that should be placed in your brown recycling cart are the containers that have a #1 - #7 on them and certain types of plastic bags. Acceptable plastic bags are grocery, produce, dry cleaning, and newspaper bags. You should "bag your bags" to aid in separation at the recycling facility. All other plastics need to go in the trash or be recycled at other locations. We do not accept polystyrene (a.k.a. Styrofoam even though it is labeled #6) or aseptic cartons (juice boxes, milk cartons) in our recycling program. 

Metals
Cans made of aluminum, tin, steel, and bimetals should be placed in your brown recycling cart. Scrap metals such as pots, pans, toasters, and other large items can also go into the container. Unacceptable metals are microwaves, car parts, empty aerosol cans and small metal pieces such as nuts, bolts, and hangers.

Yard Trimmings/Organic Materials

Please do not put plastic bags in your green organics recycling cart. Plastic bags do not compost and are a major contamination problem. If you use a plastic bag to transport your yard trimmings from the yard to the cart, dump the bag out and either reuse it for another load or put it in the trash. Do not place palm fronds in your organics cart.

Paper

Paper and cardboard contaminated with food should not be placed in the brown recycling bin. These items should be placed in your organics cart.

Contact

If you have questions about whether or not something is acceptable for recycling, call Recology South Valley at 408-842-3358 or to locate a recycler for items not accepted in our curbside program, call the Santa Clara County Recycling Hotline at 800-533-8414 or visit Recycle Stuff.