All City of Tampa residents with curbside garbage service now
also have weekly curbside recycling service. All residents
received a 14 gallon blue bin with a brochure. With curbside
recycling you can now recycle paper, glass, aluminum cans and
plastic bottles in your blue bin with just a short trip to the
curb. A paper grocery bag can be used for extra newspapers.
Recycling is collected once a week on your assigned recycling
day (the day is printed in the brochure that came with your
box). A separate truck will come by to collect the recyclables.
The recycling truck collects recyclables between 6:00am and 5pm.
NEW: Curbside Recycling Guidelines Brochure
Why Recycle?
- It's good for the environment; recycling conserves energy
- It saves the earth and resources for future generations
- It is the right thing to do!
- It’s easy to participate
What can be recycled curbside in the blue recycling bin?
As of July 1, 2008:
Phone books, paperback books, junk mail,
cereal boxes, 6-pack soda boxes, office paper and cardboard* in their blue
recycling bins in addition to the already accepted materials:
- Magazines
- Newspapers & inserts
- Catalogs
- Plastic bottles
(numbers 1 and 2 only)
- Aluminum and steel cans
(including empty aerosol cans)
- Gable-top beverage
containers (juice & milk containers)
- Glass bottles & jars
(all colors)
PREPARATION of
Recyclables:
- Please remove caps and lids and discard
- Please place all paper in a brown paper
grocery bag
- Please remove the vellum windows from
all envelopes
- No need to remove labels
- Please rinse all containers before
placing them in your bins
*Cardboard must be flattened and cut
down to fit in your blue bin (a maximum of 3 ft squares). If you have
large quantities of cardboard, you may take it to the Manhattan Brush Site,
7215
S. Manhattan Ave., or the McKay Bay Refuse-To-Energy Facility at
107 N. 30th St.
for free drop off.
What can't be recycled at this time?
Here are a few tips of what to leave out of your curbside
recycling bin:
- Plastics
numbered # 3-7 (margarine / yogurt tubs etc.)
- Used motor oil and motor oil containers (please place the
containers in the garbage); To find a location for recycling
used motor oil, call the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection at 1-800-741-4337.
- Paint (open up
cans to let paint dry or use newspaper to soak up
any remaining paint), fluorescent bulbs, pool chemicals, mercury
thermometers, chemicals, household cleaners, televisions,
computer equipment - take to one of the City's biannual
Household
Chemical & Electronics Collections (call 813-348-6515
for more information), or to a Hillsborough County
household chemical collection center. Contact the Hillsborough
County Department of Solid Waste at 813-272-5680 for dates, times
and locations.
- Batteries: Button
and nickel cadmium batteries from cell phones etc should be
taken to a participating store such as Radio Shack, Target, Home
Depot etc., or to a Household Chemical Collection event.
- Plastic bags (these should go back to the grocery store for
recycling)
- Styrofoam
(some supermarkets offer recycling)
- Pizza boxes
or any other type of waxed paper box
- Large
quantities of corrugated cardboard (larger than 3 ft square
which is the maximum size for cardboard collected curbside
in your blue bin).
Residents can drop off cardboard free at the
Manhattan Brush site or at the
McKay Bay Refuse to Energy facility. If you
have a very large quantity, call a local paper recycler.
Need a new blue box? Request a new one.
Missed Blue Box pickup? Let us know.
Recycle your old
blue bins: Leave your cracked, broken blue bins curbside on
your pick up day for collection (please leave a note on the bin stating that
you would like it replaced). The old bins will be taken to the processing
facility and recycled.
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