How to

What can I recycle and compost in my house/ apartment?

Recycling and composting not only diverts waste from our landfills, but saves your house money! The City of Berkeley does not charge for recycling and charges less for food waste pickup for composting than for garbage pickup. So help your house out by putting these items in designated containers.

BOTTLES/CANS/"Hard" Plastics

"Hard" Plastics (clean, rigid plastics)

Glass bottles and jars (but no plates or glasses)

Steel/tin/aluminum cans

Foil, foil trays and Pie plates

Rinse, but no need to remove labels

"Soft" Plastics

Clean, plastic packaging, film, wrap, and bags. If it crinkles, it goes in soft plastics.

COMPOST

All food: veggies/fruit, meat (bones), dairy, fish,

Coffee grounds, filters and tea bags

Food soiled paper: paper towels, paper plates, napkins

Pizza boxes

Waxed cardboard

Wood that does not have paint, chemicals or nails

Egg Cartons

MIXED PAPER

-Newspaper and inserts

-White and Colored paper

-Junk Mail and Magazines

-Dry Food boxes

-Wrapping paper

-Paper bags

-No need to remove staples or envelop view finders

-No tissue paper (like from toilette paper rolls)

-No waxed paper

-No cups/plates, milk or juice cartons, or food-contaminated paper

-No photographs

CARDBOARD

Corrugated cardboard boxes (flattened)

Brown paper bags (even big flour ones if string is removed + no plastic lined)

No waxed cardboard

GREASE

Grease is collected in a metal bin in the kitchen. Large chunks of food should NOT go in the grease bucket . . . it’s for grease only. Grease will be collected regularly and is collected by a company that sells it to other companies that turn it into cosmetics or process it with animal fee. Please keep your grease bucket at most half full. If your grease bucket is full before a scheduled pick-up day, email CK at recycle@bsc.coop.

ELECTRONIC WASTE

Recycling or maintenance managers are responsible for having an area designated for these items. Do NOT put these items in the trash! They become toxic in landfills.

Monitors & TVs, flat panel displays, computers, laptops, cell phones, small printers, scanners, fax, large printers, copiers, A/V equipment, uninterruptible power supply, keyboards, cables, microwaves, toasters, small accessories, and anything else you plug into a power outlet

HAZARDOUS & UNIVERSAL WASTES

Recycling or maintenance managers are responsible for having an area designated for these items. These items also become toxic in landfills and should not be put in the trash.

Household batteries, fluorescent bulbs, light bulbs (bulbs are NOT recyclable if they are broken!), paint, stain, varnish, thinner, and adhesives; auto products such as old fuel, motor oil, oil filters and batteries; cleaners and sprays, garden products

PACKAGING MATERIALS

We collect packing peanuts, Styrofoam and bubble wrap and give them to UPS and other local companies to be reused.

In-house Reuse Ideas

Plastic Shopping Bags

Designate a place in your house (by the kitchen or by the door) for plastic shopping bags. Clean bags can be reused for shopping trips, dirty gym clothes or any carrying purposes! Let members know of the “take-one-leave-one” policy.

Bread Bags

Designate a place in your kitchen (near the bread) to collect empty bags and old twist ties. These are great for packing sandwiches or taking your lunch to school.

Plastic Containers

Containers that are not recyclable (#3-#7) can be reused as cups or containers for storing leftovers or packing lunches. These can be washed and reused until the labels start to fade, then they should be thrown away.

Glass Jars

Jars can also be reused as cups as well, and can last a long time.

One-Sided Paper

If you have a house printer or a study room, set up an area of scratch paper. This is good for printing in-house posting (like health announcements or council minutes), or even homework.

Large Plastic Buckets

Lots of things come in buckets (like soy sauce, laundry detergent) and buckets are reusable. Buckets make great storage containers and even better small trash bins for bathrooms or bedrooms. Lids make good palette for painting!

Food Delivery Bags

CK brings lots of goodies to your house, often in ridiculously large plastic bags. These, luckily, are the exact same size as trash bags . . . so reuse them!

Free-Piles

Clothes and other goodies go in your free-pile, which should be neat and clean and organized! It is your job to make sure it stays user-friendly and that people use it. When you’ve got too much in your free-pile, let CK know and they can pick it up and donate it.

Be Creative . . .There are lots of things your house generates that can be reused. Old whip-its make great wind chimes, cereal boxes are great disposable bedroom mixed paper bins.

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