Recycle Collection

• Empty out all liquids and clean out food residue
• Remove plastic shrink sleeves and adhesive labels from aluminum cans

❌ No need to crush or flatten cans

❌ No aluminum foil, pans or trays

• Empty out all liquids and clean out food residue
• Remove plastic lids from aerosol cans
• Okay to place metal lids back in cans

❌ No scrap metal

❌ No stainless steel water bottles or thermoses

• Remove lids and caps

❌ No plastic bags, wrap, cups or tubes

❌ No Styrofoam® or foam materials

❌ No plastic clamshell, egg cartons or deli containers

❌ No plastic utensils or straws

❌ No microwavable trays

❌ No muriatic acid bottles

• Food and beverage glass only
• Empty out all liquids
• Clean out food residue
• Remove lids, caps and corks

❌ No glass vases or drinking glasses

❌ No ceramics

❌ No broken glass or mirrors

• Flatten boxes into pieces no larger than 4 ft. by 4 ft.
• Remove any plastic film and packing materials (ex. Styrofoam®)
• Set flattened boxes in or under your orange bin

❌ No boxes with food residue, such as greasy pizza boxes

• Remove plastic windows from pasta and tissue boxes
• Paper egg cartons are okay

❌ No bakery or donut boxes

❌ No paper plates or cups

• Remove plastic wrap and plastic bags
• Peel off and discard any front-page newspaper sticky note ads
• Remove and discard magnets from phone books
• Paperback books and manuals are okay to recycle

❌ NO papers with foil or glitter

• Remove food and wrappings
• Shredded paper must be placed inside a closed paper bag and labeled "Shredded Paper" on the outside of the bag. Limit 2 bags of shredded paper per week.  ❌ No plastic bags
• Plain wrapping paper is okay to recycle

❌ No glossy type gift bags

❌ No popcorn bags or pet food bags

❌ No bubble envelopes

❌ No wrapping paper or greeting cards with foil or glitter

Residential recycling is collected within the City of Gainesville on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. To find out the collection day for your address, click on the map below.

Tuesday (Blue), Wednesday (Green), Thursday (Pink)

❌ No. If in doubt, leave it out. When items that are not accepted for recycling (contaminants) are placed in with the recycling, it increases the cost of processing recyclables and can damage expensive sorting equipment. Also, contaminants lower the quality of the recyclables, thus decreasing the market value of the materials.

❌ No. Never place your recyclable out of for collection inside plastic bags. Recyclables should be left loose and in your recycle bins. Bagged recyclables add cost and time to the processing of recyclables.

Yes. Smaller lids, such as bottle caps and water bottle lids, should be removed and disposed of with your garbage. Larger metal lids from glass jars can be rinsed off and placed back on once containers have been fully emptied. Larger plastic lids from laundry detergent bottles and plastic tubs can be placed loose in the blue bin.

Most containers only required light rinsing. However, a more thorough cleaning may be necessary for bottles and jars with stickier foods or liquids, such as peanut butter or syrup.

❌ No. Aluminum foil, pie pans, and trays are not accepted for recycling in the Gainesville program. Aluminum foil is too often food contaminated for recycling. Aluminum foil is also a lighter weight material than aluminum cans, which limits its marketability.

Some paper packaging material is recyclable, however plastic bubble wrap, bubble-lined envelopes, and air-pillows are not recyclable in the Gainesville program. If you are not able to reuse this material, please dispose of it with your garbage and be sure to pop or poke holes in air-pillows.

❌ No. Plastic or foil pouches of any kind are not recyclable in the Gainesville program. This material is difficult to process and has a limited marketability.

Yes. Residents will need to schedule an appointment before setting out appliances or electronics for collection. To arrange a collection appointment, call (352) 334-2330 or visit online and select either Appliance Collection or Electronics Recycling.

Plastic shrink sleeves & adhesive labels can negatively impact not only the recyclability of the can itself but also have a detrimental effect on other recyclables. The plastic (PVC) shrink sleeves & adhesive labels act as an impurity in the smelting process of aluminum by creating excess smoke, gumming up machinery, and requiring extra electricity to melt the metal. Also, some automated recycling sorting equipment sensors incorrectly identify the aluminum cans with plastic sleeves as plastic containers and then the aluminum cans end up contaminating plastic materials.

❌ No. Any type of battery or light bulb is not accepted in your curbside recycle bins.

For the proper disposal and recycling of household hazardous waste, residents in the City of Gainesville should take these materials to one of the Alachua County facilities that are equipped and trained to manage this type of material. For more information visit online at Alachua County’s Hazardous Waste Collection or call (352) 334-0440.

❌ No. The recycling symbol on containers represents the general category of plastic that the material is made from, but it does not mean the container is recyclable in your community. Plastics vary significantly by their resin types (chemicals & dyes) and physical properties (rigidity & melting temperatures). Often there are no processes available or market demand for lower grade (non-rigid) plastic items or large bulky plastic materials.

• For Gainesville residents, don’t be concerned with the number in the recycling symbol on a plastic item when determining if that item is accepted for recycling. Instead, follow the simple guideline that if a plastic item is a bottle, jug, jar, or tub, then it is accepted for recycling.

❌ No. Clamshells and other lightweight (non-rigid) plastic containers are not recyclable in the Gainesville program. These types of non-rigid plastic containers are often used to store and sell bakery foods, deli items, fresh berries, and mixed candies.

❌ No. Plastic microwavable trays and other black plastic containers are not recyclable in the Gainesville program. While often made from recycled plastics, these containers are heavily dyed and are difficult to process into new plastics.

❌ No. Styrofoam®, expanded polystyrene blocks, foam trays, and shipping peanuts are not accepted for recycling in the Gainesville program.

• 

• If you are not able to reuse this material, please dispose of it with your garbage and be sure to bag shipping peanuts to avoid creating any litter problems.
• Some grocery stores, like Publix, accept back clean foam trays and foam egg cartons for recycling. Look for designated recycling containers near the front of the stores.

Yes & No. Only the larger-sized plastic prescription vials and vitamin type bottles that are 3 inches or more in diameter or height are accepted for recycling.

Yes. Plastic containers and plastic buckets that are 3 gallons or smaller in size are accepted for recycling in the Gainesville program. Please be sure to removed metal handles from containers before placing them in your recycle bin.

❌ Containers over 3 gallons in size and containers with rubber gaskets under the lids are not accepted for recycling.

❌ No. Plastic bags of any kind are not accepted for recycling in the Gainesville program. Plastic bags are the number one contaminant in the recycling industry as they add cost to the recycling process. Plastic bags can become entwined in gears during processing, which can result in damage to expensive equipment and halting the entire sorting operation.

Most plastic grocery bags can be recycled by returning the bags to the store of their origin. Publix, Winn Dixie, Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl’s, and other stores generally have designated recycling containers near the front of the store or near the customer service area where you can recycle your plastic bags. Plastic bags should be empty, clean, and dry before placing them in the store recycling containers.

❌ No. Single-serve coffee pods are not accepted for recycling in the Gainesville program.

Yes. Be sure to empty and clean out tubs before placing them in your blue bin. Peel-off foil and plastic film from containers. Tub lids are okay to recycle.

❌ No. Plastic mailers are not accepted for recycling in your curbside recycle bins. To recycle these items you’ll need to remove the paper labels from the mailers and then take them to a plastic film drop-off location.

Yes. Shredded paper is accepted for recycling in the Gainesville recycling program; however, all shredded paper must be placed inside a closed paper bag and labeled "Shredded Paper" on the outside of the bag. Limit 2 bags of shredded paper per week.

❌ Do not put shredded paper in plastic bags.

Flatten or cut all cardboard boxes into pieces no larger than 4 feet by 4 feet. The flattened boxes can be placed out for collection under or next to your recycle bins. If you have large volumes of cardboard boxes, you may take the boxes for free to any of the five Alachua County Rural Collection Centers for recycling.

The vast majority of used pizza boxes are too contaminated with food residue or grease stains for recycling and should be disposed of with your garbage. Exceptionally clean pizza boxes can be treated just like cardboard and placed in paper recycle bins.

• If only the bottom of the pizza box is stained with grease, then the box's top can be removed and recycled.
• While some other communities may be able to take food contaminated pizza boxes in their recycling programs, our only available downstream paper recycling processor rejects contaminated loads.

Yes. Remove the plastic windows from the boxes like pasta boxes and the plastic film from the top of tissue boxes before placing them in your recycle bin and disposed of the plastic film with your garbage.

Yes. Boxes with tape or labels on them can still be processed for recycling; however, the more tape you can remove, the better, as it will increase the recyclability of the material.

❌ No. Orange and blue recycle bins are provided to households for the sole purpose of holding bottles, cans, cardboard, and other papers for recycling collection. The City of Gainesville reserves the right to remove recycle bins not used for their intended purpose.

Yes. For residents who find they have more recyclables than what will fit in their two bins, additional recycle bins can be supplied a no charge. To request additional (or replacement) recycle bins, please call 352-334-2330 (City residents) or 352-338-3233 (County residents).

The approximate bin dimensions are 18.3” (depth) x 27.75” (width) x 13.5” (height). Each recycle bin weighs approximately 4.4 lbs.

Caddies or other devices used to store and transport recycle bins are not provided by the City of Gainesville or the City’s contracted hauler. Recycle caddies are available for purchase by residents from third-party vendors, such as local hardware stores and online retailers. Neither the City of Gainesville nor the City’s contracted hauler is responsible for replacing damaged, lost, or stolen caddies or other bin transporting devices.

Recycle bins and garbage carts are the property of the collection contractor and the City of Gainesville. Residents should leave all assigned bins and carts behind at the home for the next tenants to use.

City of Gainesville residents can also take materials for recycling to any of the Alachua County Rural Collection Centers. For locations and hours visit Rural Collection Centers.