City of St. Louis
Department of Streets
Refuse Division
Recycling Program

Curbside Recycling
Cost-Sharing Pilot Program

About the Program How to Enroll Materials Accepted/
Preparation Instructions Service Information Recycling Home Refuse Home

Note: The following information is also available as a PDF file.

All About the Curbside Recycling Cost-Sharing Pilot Program

Thanks to generous support from the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District, the City of St. Louis is able to offer financial assistance to 3,174 households in zip codes 63108, 63110, 63112, 63113, 63116, 63139 and 63147 with the cost of curbside recycling service. For one year of service, the resident pays a portion of the annual fee while the Refuse Division utilizes grant funding to cover the remainder of the cost.

The service year begins December 1 and ends November 30. Once a week, a recycling truck collects paper, plastic, aluminum, glass, steel, and cardboard from the curb. This limited program is first-come, first-served.

Regarding the fact that City residents must pay for curbside recycling service, please understand that the industry is still in transition. There is a common misperception that is it highly lucrative, so consumers should not have to pay for service. Small revenues are received for some of the recyclables collected in our curbside program, but any such income is currently insufficient to cover its cost. We are continually making efforts to improve the cost-effectiveness of this program.

How To Enroll

We have currently reached the maximum number of households that our grant funding allows us to assist with the cost of curbside recycling service. Although we are currently unable to accept new subscribers, additional recycling options are available to St. Louis City residents.

Residents who wish to begin curbside recycling immediately may contract directly with Earth Circle Recycling. Residents may contact them by email at earthcirclerecycling@earthcirclerecycling.com or by phone at 314.664.1450. Their website is http://www.earthcirclerecycling.com.

Residents living in zip codes 63108, 63110, 63112, 63113, 63116, 63139 and 63147 may request to be placed on our waiting list in the event that space in the Curbside Recycling Cost-Sharing Pilot Program becomes available. To place your name on our waiting list, email recycle@stlouis.missouri.org or call 314.353.8877.

City residents may also use any of 27 dropoff recycling sites located throughout St. Louis City. For more information about our dropoff sites, visit http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/recycle/locations.htm.

Materials Accepted / Preparation Instructions

Please place recyclables between the sidewalk and the curb before 7:00 a.m. on collection day.
Note: Materials will NOT be collected if improperly prepared or not recyclable through this program. No pickups after 7:00 p.m. If materials do not fit in the bin provided, they may be collected in a separate container(s)(e.g. brown paper bag, cardboard box, storage crate, laundry basket, etc.).
Plastic bags will not be accepted. Do not include food wrappers or food contaminated materials.

SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING
This year we will be experimenting with single stream recycling For now, it will not be necessary to separate each material. You will place all recyclable materials in the same bin. However, the materials will need to be properly prepared and recyclable though this program, otherwise, they will not be collected.

RECYCLABLE CONTAINERS
Remove contents. Rinse containers. Labels do not need to be removed.

Aluminum Cans:
DO include bottles and cans, food trays, pie plates, and foil.
DO NOT include food contaminated materials.
Aseptic Packaging and Gable Top Containers Remove all caps, lids, and straws. aseptic juice gable top milk
DO include juice, milk, soup, and stock boxes and cartons.
DO NOT include food contaminated materials.

Glass Bottles and Jars
Remove all caps and lids (their metal cannot be recycled often because they include a rubber ring or seal).
Avoid breaking containers. glass bottle and jar
DO include brown, clear, green glass bottles and jars.
DO NOT include ceramics, dishes, drinking glasses, lightbulbs, mirrors, Pyrex, windows, blue glass products (unlike other colors, even the tiniest bit of blue glass can contaminate beyond usefulness to glass manufacturers).

Plastic #'s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 (not including #6) (see the recycling triangle on the bottom of the container):
Remove caps and lids (they cannot be recycled because they are a different type of plastic). Flatten (to reduce storage space, transportation costs, and pollution). plastic bottles
DO include containers for beverages, foods, body care and household products, and other non-hazardous materials.
DO NOT include containers that contained antifreeze, cooking oil, hazardous materials, motor oil; disposable diapers; frozen food bags; plastic bags or wrap; "Styrofoam", foam, or polystyrene products.

Steel Cans
Lids can be recycled with cans.
DO include cans that contained coffee, fruits, soups, vegetables, and aerosols.
DO NOT include cans that contained oil, paint, or hazardous materials.

RECYCLABLE PAPERS

Catalogs/Magazines:
DO include thin catalogs, glossy/slick paper or advertising flyers.
DO NOT include food contaminated materials, food wrappers, hardback/paperback books, postcards, thick catalogs.

Junk Mail/Mixed Office Paper:
It is not necessary to remove regular paper clips or staples.
DO include colored or copier paper, envelopes (including plastic windows), folders (without metal or plastic), gift or holiday wrapping paper (no foil-type), packing paper, printer or school paper, stationery, white paper, junk mail.
DO NOT include binders; binder clips; carbon paper; construction paper; decorations, such as bows, ribbons, string, twine, etc.; food contaminated materials; food wrappers; hardback/paperback books; non-Kraft-paper shopping bags or bags with handles; notebooks; plastic coated, laminated, or lined paper; plastic sheet protectors; rubber bands; facial, sanitary, or toilet tissue products; spiral notebooks; thermal or treated fax paper; tissue paper.

Newspaper:
DO include inserts that arrived in the paper.
DO NOT include paper or plastic bags or wrappers, string, twine, or food contaminated materials.

CARDBOARD / PAPERBOARD
If cardboard does not fit in the bin provided, it may be stacked beneath recycling bin(s). Remove contents, including liners or packing materials.
Break down and flatten (to reduce storage space, transportation costs, and pollution).

Carrier Stock
DO include boxes that contained beer or soda.

Chipboard/Paperboard cereal box
DO include boxes that contained cake mixes, cereals, crackers, dry foods, food mixes, paper supplies, shoes.
DO NOT include boxes or cartons that are coated or lined, such as with wax, plastic, or foil (i.e., frozen food, milk, juice, etc.) or food contaminated materials.

Corrugated Cardboard cardboard box
DO include brown/Kraft paper (e.g., bags, sheets, wrapping, etc.).
DO NOT include cardboard cans (such as fiber drums), food contaminated materials (such as pizza boxes), or non-Kraft-paper shopping bags or bags with handles.

Service Information

INCLEMENT WEATHER
In the event of snow or ice, recyclables will be collected from streets plowed by the City; all other streets will be picked up as deemed safe. All impassable areas will be serviced the following week on your regularly scheduled collection day.

HOLIDAY COLLECTION SCHEDULE
Should any of the following holidays or observances occur on a regularly scheduled collection day, pick up will be rescheduled to the next business day:

Christmas Day (observed Tuesday; makeup Wednesday, December 26, 2007)

New Year's Day (observed Tuesday; makeup Wednesday, January 2, 2008)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (observed Monday; makeup Tuesday, January 22, 2008)

Presidents Day (observed Monday; makeup Tuesday, February 19, 2008)

Memorial Day (observed Monday; makeup Tuesday, May 27, 2008)

Independence Day (observed Friday; makeup Tuesday, July 8th, 2008)

Labor Day (observed Monday; makeup Tuesday, September 2, 2008)

Veteran's Day (observed Tuesday; makeup Wednesday, November 12, 2008)

Thanksgiving Day (observed Thursday; makeup Friday, November 28, 2008)

For missed pickups, complaints, questions, suggestions, comments, concerns, or information regarding the City of St. Louis cost-sharing program, contact:
City of St. Louis Refuse Division
4100 South First Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63118
Email recycle@stlouis.missouri.org
Phone 314.353.8877
Fax 314.352.5627

This cost-sharing program is funded by the St. Louis- Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

What Else Can I Do?

Recycling at home is the first step towards reducing household waste - how can your family make the most of this opportunity? Acting as an informed consumer can go a long way saving valuable resources from the landfill. Buy in bulk and choose products with less packaging. Once you are familiar with the materials that can be recycled through the curbside recycling service, select goods packaged in these types of containers.

Glass, aluminum, and steel are easy to identify and are 100% recyclable. These materials can be infinitely recycled and processed into new goods. Plastic is more difficult to recycle; for this reason many programs only accept limited types of plastic. Purchase items sold in plastic containers numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 to ensure that they can be placed into the recycling bin. Before you buy, check the number inside the triangular symbol located on the bottom of plastic containers.

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