The City of Santa Clarita’s commercial waste hauler Burrtec Waste Industries offers FREE recycling bins to all city businesses. The recycling bins come in either 1.5 cubic yards or 3 cubic yard containers. So if you want to start recycling and save money please call Burrtec’s Customer Service Department at (661) 222-2249 and they’ll help you with your service needs.

Reduce, Reuse, Repair, and Recycle

The four R's include Reduce, Reuse, Repair, and Recycle. Incorporating these principles into our daily lives reduces the waste going to landfills, protects our natural resources, and will make a lasting difference in the quality of life we leave for future generations.

Reduce

• Reduce the amount of garbage you generate by purchasing products with less packaging. Purchase items in bulk, family size, or in condensed form. Avoid packaging made with two or more materials such as juice containers made from paper laminated onto plastic or foil. Avoid all products that have unnecessary packaging.
  
• Don’t print unless necessary
  
• Whenever possible use double sided copying
  
• Use canvas or string bags when shopping. Recycle Plastic Bags! To find the nearest location click here!
  
• Use cloth rags, napkins, and handkerchiefs instead of paper towels and tissues.
  
• Remove your business from direct marketing mailing lists to reduce junk mail.
  
• Never release balloons into the environment. They are extremely hazardous to wildlife and can cause power outages.

Reuse

• Reuse what you can. Every time you buy something, think of ways to reuse it instead of throwing it away. An important way to reduce the amount of waste you and your business generate is to reuse a product as many times as you can.
  
• Use rechargeable batteries.
  
• Reuse containers for storage.
• Give your old magazines to local senior centers, churches, or hospitals.
• Reuse styrofoam peanuts for packaging.
• Donate unneeded items to a local thrift shop or charitable organization.

Repair

• Repair electric and electronic products whenever possible. When purchasing these items, buy durable, long lasting products with long-term warranties. These products may cost a bit more at first, but they will save you money in the long run. Durable products need fewer repairs over time.
• Please call your local appliance repair shop instead of disposing of broken appliances. It may save you money and it will definitely save valuable landfill space.

Recycle

• Recycling is the process of collecting, processing, and re-manufacturing new products from used materials that have been diverted from our landfills. By purchasing recycled products whenever possible, you help to further local and national recycling efforts.
  
• Products made from recycled materials contain a combination of pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled materials. When you buy products, check to see if the product is made from pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled materials.

Pre-consumer materials

• Often referred to as mill scraps. These are materials which never leave the manufacturing plant, but are recycled internally.

Post-consumer materials

• Represent products that have been returned by consumers to a manufacturer for recycling purposes. There are two recycling symbols currently used by manufacturers when promoting recyclable products. When attempting to purchase recycled products, look for the recycling symbol on either the product or its packaging.

The symbol on the left indicates those products that can be recycled. For example, cereal boxes made with white paperboard are made from raw materials. Although these products can be recycled, they are not made from recycled materials.

The symbol on the right indicates a product is made from recycled materials. For example, cereal boxes containing gray .paperboard are made from post-consumer recycled materials.

The City of Santa Clarita passed a policy calling for the purchase of recycled products in all City departments. When purchasing paper goods and other products, please support Santa Clarita's "Buy Recycled Campaign." Once consumers choose to buy recycled products, markets for recycled materials will increase. Remember, if you're not buying recycled products, you're not really recycling