Residential Recycling Collection

Austin Resource Recovery provides curbside collection of recycling to single-family households up to four-plexes in Austin. Place mixed paper, plastic, metal and glass directly in your blue recycling cart; no sorting is required!

Keep these tanglers out of the blue recycling cart

Plastic bags, trash bags, plastic film and wrap

What do I do with it?

Some local retailers and stores accept these items for recycling— check our What Do I Do With tool to find a location near you.

Garden hoses

What do I do with it?

Visit the Austin Reuse Directory to find a local organization that will accept these items for reuse or recycling, or place in your trash cart.

Strings of lights and electrical cords

What do I do with it?

Drop these items off at the Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center to be recycled or disposed of safely.

Clothing and textiles

What do I do with it?

Visit the Austin Reuse Directory to find a local organization that will accept these items for reuse or schedule free clothing and housewares curbside collection.

Rope

What do I do with it?

Visit the Austin Reuse Directory to find a local organization that will accept these items for reuse.

Place these items in the blue recycling cart

Paper

Image of various paper types

Glossy paper
Junk mail/envelopes
Catalogs/magazines
Newspapers
Non-foil wrapping paper

Boxboard and cardboard

Image of different cardboard types

Cardboard
(All cardboard boxes should be broken down into roughly 2'x2' squares. Use the lid of your recycling cart as a size guide.)
Toilet paper/
paper towel rolls
Boxes

Metals

Image of recyclable metals

Steel and tin cans
Aluminum foil baking pans
Aluminum foil (balled 2 inches or larger)

Glass

Image of glass containers

Jars and caps (labels can be left on containers)
Bottles and bottle caps (labels can be left on containers)

Hard plastics

Image of plastic containers

Water/soda bottles
Jars/tubs
Non-battery toys
Buckets/baskets
Lawn chairs

Keep these items out of your blue recycling cart

Image of Styrofoam, clothing, plastic bags, wood and garden hoses

Plastic film and bags
Styrofoam
Water hoses
Textiles
Wood
Medical waste (e.g. syringes and sharp containers)

Collection guidelines

Place your recycling cart at the curb by 5:30 a.m. on your collection day. (The set-out time has been shifted to an hour earlier to minimize workers' exposure to the extreme summer heat.)
Place trash, recyclables and compost five feet apart to allow our automated trucks to collect materials safely and efficiently.
Do not bag recycling.
Did we miss your cart? Call Austin Resource Recovery at 3-1-1 or send us an e-mail within two days of the missed collection. We will come by to pick up the missed material as soon as possible.
Extra recycling is collected at no extra charge. Extra recycling that does not fit into your blue cart with the lid closed should be placed next to your cart in a reusable container or a cardboard box no larger than your cart (use the lid of your recycling cart as a size guide). If you would like to request an additional blue cart, free of charge, call 512-494-9400.