Recycling Center

A recycling center is a place where you take garbage that can be recycled such as glass containers, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard and newspaper. These items are then taken and used to make new products! Some recycling centers may also handle electronics and paint! Most Northampton and Bethlehem, PA residents can put recycling at the curb with their regular trash every week. Recycling is put in a separate container from your regular trash and carried in a separate truck from your regular trash as well. However, you may want to take your own items to recycling!

If you choose to go to a recycling center yourself you will want to contact the center to see what it is they accept and when. Because some centers have restrictions on how much of some items they can accept, or the state of the items they accept you will want to be sure you call ahead and learn their restrictions.

In general, glass in clear, amber and green can be recycled as long as it has been rinsed clean. If you have plastic that is marked PET/PETE, HDPE, V, LDPE, PP, PS, and OTHER and labeled with a number 1 through 7 it is probably safe to recycle, and aluminum, steel and bimetal cans are also safe to recycle as long as they have also been rinsed clean. While it may seem annoying to have to rinse your recycling before you send it in, this is because food and drink particles can attract lots of bugs – such as flies and wasps – which will attack workers or lay maggots. It’s just considered a courtesy to make sure these items are rinsed out and as free as reasonably possible of things that may attract insects.

Newspapers can be recycled as well. If you decide you want to recycle your news paper you’ll want to tie it into bundles or put it in a paper grocery bag. This makes the pages easier to carry around and less like to blow off and make a mess.

Some recycling centers may take yard or green waste, including Christmas trees, but may not allow you to get rid of grass clippings. Some may take fill dirt if it is clean. If you have tires that have been removed from their rims you may also be able to take them to a recycling center but be sure to call ahead as they may have a per household limit that is less than four tires!

Recycling that is picked up during curbside garbage service is taken to a recycling center similar to the one you can take your recycling to on your own. If you prefer to take advantage of curbside recycling as part of your garbage service make sure you follow the same basic courtesy steps of rinsing your food and beverage containers and bundling up your newspapers. Additionally, most garbage services will ask that if you are recycling things like cardboard boxes, that you break them down so that they are flat and easier to handle.

See Also:
Junkyard
Garbage Dump Service
Garbage Collection Service