Taking Austin's recycling to the next level

Single Stream allows customers to mix recyclable paper, plastic, aluminum cans and glass in one bin. This method has many advantages:

• Toss ALL your recycling into one cart
• Recycle MORE and more types of items
• Encourages MORE residents to recycle

How does it work?

Now, all your recyclables go in your new 90-gallon blue cart:
paper, cardboard, boxboard, aluminum cans, metal cans, plastic and glass. Small blue bins are no longer collected at curbside. Crews collect recycling with automated collection trucks, and recycling collection will occur every other week. You should have received complete Single Stream Recycling instructions and a calendar showing your collection schedule with your new recycling cart. If you need a replacement calendar, call 3-1-1.

What goes in the recycling cart?

Paper: (newspaper, office paper, junk mail, envelopes, wrapping paper)

Boxboard and cardboard: (corrugated cardboard and boxboard. Examples of boxboard: cereal boxes, shoe boxes, most gift boxes, soda/beverage containers, most food packaging containers such as boxes of macaroni and cheese, rice, microwave meals.)

Aluminum and metal cans: food cans (labels left on OK), soda cans

Glass: Jars and bottles

Rigid plastics: # 1 through # 7, including yogurt and margarine tubs

Extra recycling can be placed in a cardboard box.

What cannot be recycled in your cart?

Please DON’T place the following in your Single Stream Recycling cart:

• Plastic bags
• Styrofoam® (cups, egg cartons, take-out containers)
• Pizza boxes
• Yard waste/leaves (set out for yard trimmings pick up)
• Food waste
• Garbage (you may be charged for extra garbage if you consistently put garbage in your recycling cart)
• Helium tanks
• Large metal items (steel cans, aerosol cans or metals that are gallon-sized or smaller are ok. Frying pans and large metal pipes are not ok)
• Large plastic items (rigid plastics that are gallon-sized or smaller are ok)
• Wire coat hangers (recycle at your local dry cleaners)

The blue carts are only for recyclable items. You may be charged an extra garbage fee for putting trash in your recycling cart.

Other recycling tips:

• Be sure to set out your recycling on the correct day. If we missed picking up your recycling, be sure to report it within 48 hours to 3-1-1 so we can come back to pick it up quickly.
• Is your recycling cart already full? You can set out extra recycling for no charge in a recyclable container such as a cardboard box. Crews will pick up the box and recycle it too!
• Crews will recycle the old blue recycling bins if you use them to set out extra recycling, so don’t set them at the curb if you’d like to keep them!

Single Stream FAQ.