Residential recycling is strongly encouraged in the City of Santa Clarita. To make it easy, Santa Clarita has a commingled residential recycling program for all residents of single family homes, apartments, condominiums, and mobile home parks. Commingled residential recycling allows residents to place the following mixed recyclables in one container:

Acceptable Recycling Materials

• Aluminum cans, foil and trays
• Tin cans and bi-metal cans
• Rinsed milk cartons - flattened
• Juice boxes and soy milk boxes - flattened
• Carryout bags, butter and margarine tubs, screw on caps, and yogurt containers
• Plastic bags
• Mixed plastic materials
• Shampoo, detergent, milk, soda, water
• All plastic food containers marked #1 through #7.
• Glass bottles and jars - empty and rinsed
• Loose newspaper
• Paper board
• Cereal and cracker boxes
• Six-pack cartons
  
• Cardboard and corrugated boxes
• Brown grocery bags
• Magazines
• Glossy paper
• Junk mail
• Stationery and envelopes
• Any high grade/uncoated paper
• Binder/notebook paper, any color

Non-Acceptable Recycling Materials

• Scrap metal
• Plastic motor oil bottles
• Window pane glass
• Mirror
• Light bulbs
• Ceramic pottery, cups, and dishes
• Ovenware
• Plastic or wax coated paper
• Cereal box liners
• Books
• Gummed or glued bindings (telephone books ok)
• Paper towels, napkins, tissue paper, paper plates, soiled paper, adhesive backed, or sticky paper
• Carbon paper
• Aluminum foil boxes
• Plastic wrap

How to Prepare Your Recycling

• Rinse and flatten cans, milk cartons, and jugs to save space and energy
• Metal jar lids can be placed with your tin cans
• No need to remove labels
• Plastic bags are only recyclable if they have the recycling symbol. They can be included with the rest of your recyclables.
• To bag your plastic bags, combine all your grocery store plastic bags, dry cleaning plastic bags, or any other plastic bags in a plastic bag. Residents should then place the bagged plastic bags in the recycling bin.

Redeem your recyclables for cash

• You may redeem your recyclables for cash. To find a location near you, visit www.bottlesandcans.com or www.earth911.org.

Single Family Recycling

• Collection occurs on your regular weekly trash collection day. A 96-gallon gray cart with a green lid is provided to all single family households. Recycling is unlimited, so you may put out as many recycling bins as you need. If you need additional bins, contact Waste Management / Blue Barrel at (661) 259-2398 to request a second container (free of charge). For additional information for trash disposal and recycling,
  please go to the following link

Multi Family Recycling

• Multi-family recycling bins for commingled materials are conveniently located in many multi-family complexes in the city. Contact your management office for the location of your designated recycling bins. This recycling service is free to all multi-family complexes in Santa Clarita. If your complex does not offer recycling services, please contact your local management or the City's Environmental Services Division at (661) 286-4098.
  

Reduce, Reuse, Repair, and Recycle

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.
• 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 name from direct marketing mailing lists to reduce junk mail.
• Compost to reduce yard waste.
• Use cloth diapers when possible.
• Never release balloons into the environment. They are extremely hazardous to wildlife and can cause power outages.

Reuse & Repair

• Reuse what you can. Every time you buy something, think of ways to reuse it instead of throwing it away. Water bottles, cardboard boxes, shoe boxes, plastic and paper bags can all be reused.
• Use rechargeable batteries.
• Reuse glass jars for storage.
• Reuse plastic margarine tubs and yogurt containers for leftovers.
• Return your hangers and plastic garment bags to your local dry cleaner.
• 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.
• Reuse compost from your compost pile to fertilize your yard, flowerbeds, and garden
• 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.
• A great local resource for Santa Clarita residents is the SWAP program. SWAP is a materials exchange program. It is a free online resource enabling exchange materials, needed or wanted. Please go to the following link for more information:

Buy Recycled

• 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.