Recycling

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RECYCLING

Triangular recycle arrows with a globe in the middleSandia Heights Services is committed to helping maintain a healthy environment for Albuquerque’s current and future generations.  By utilizing waste products in a constructive way, we can decrease the size of our landfills. In addition, recycling helps conserve our natural resources by turning recycled materials into new items, lessening the need to collect natural resources such as water, minerals, coal, oil, gas and timber.

ALLOWED RECYCLABLES INCLUDE:

PAPER

PLASTIC

METAL

Newspapers

#1 – #7 Plastic bottles/tubs Aluminum cans

Magazines

Rigid plastic toys Tin cans

Office paper

  Foil & pie pans

Corrugated cardboard

  Small electronics

Cereal/cracker boxes

  Pots & pans

Phone books

  Small appliances

Books

   

Brown paper bags

   

Paper egg cartons

   
Junk Mail

Do I Have To Rinse My Recyclables?

Jars, Bottles and Cans:

  • If the empty jars, bottles, and cans have visible residue within the container, you should rinse them out before tossing them in the recycling bin.
  • This doesn’t mean you need to break out the dish soap and a sponge in order to clean out the remaining contents. All you need to do is fill the jar, bottle, or can with water and swish the water around until a majority of the remaining contents are removed from the sides. That’s it!
  • However, for containers that were filled with more sticky substances (jelly, honey, marshmallow fluff), take the extra few seconds to give it a quick scrub.

Cardboard and Paper Guidelines:

  • Grease and oil make cardboard and paper unrecyclable, so pizza boxes covered in grease aren’t fit for the recycling bin. However, if the box is mostly clean with just a few specks of grease, you’re fine to recycle it.
  • The same goes for other contaminants. If you’re making pancakes and a drop of egg lands on the box, it’s still clean enough to recycle. However, too much of a mess will make it impossible to recycle.
  • Additionally, crumpled, torn or misshapen paper and cardboard can be recycled the same as flat products. As a side note, paper that has been shredded or torn into bits must be contained in paper bags to avoid the small pieces from blowing away and causing littering. 

Throw Away Heavily Soiled Items:

  • Items that are heavily soiled or impossible to clean, unfortunately cannot be recycled and should be thrown away.

ITEMS NOT ALLOWED FOR RECYCLE:

Glass

Garbage

Food

Light bulbs

Wood

Hazardous waste

Sharp metal

Yard waste

Batteries

Motor oil bottles

Medical waste/needles

Styrofoam

TVs

Computer monitors

Plastic grocery bags

Wrapping paper
Ink cartridges
For more information, please visit the New Mexico Recycling Coalition website for a full directory of all recycling centers.  The directory allows users to search for recycling centers by type of material to be recycled or by the type of services offered.

Green Zia symbol with a green recycling symbol in the middle

New Mexico Recycling Coalition