All of our recyclable materials, such as paper, glass, plastic, and metal are accepted in the blue cart or bin. The recyclables are then sent to GreenWaste of Palo Alto's material recovery facility in San Jose, where they are separated into commodities that are sold to manufacturers that turn our discards into new products.
View the comprehensive list of accepted materials. You can also go to the What Goes Where Tools page for a suite of tools designed to help you learn more details about what goes where and how to prepare your materials.
Paper
(staples, tape ok)
- White, colored, and glossy paper
- Magazines and catalogs
- Newspaper
- Cardboard (flattened, cut to fit loosely)
- Junk mail
- Paperboard (e.g., office supply, cereal and tissue boxes, toilet paper tubes)
- Paperback books
- Shredded paper
- Paper bags
Glass
Metal
- Aerosol cans (empty, non-hazardous)
- Aluminum cans (food, beverage, pet food)
- Foil, foil trays and pans
- Lids, caps
- Scrap metal
Plastic Bags & Film
(place bags and film plastic in a bag.)
- Bags (e.g., bread, dry cleaning, grocery, newspaper, produce, merchandise, zip lock)
- Bubble wrap
- Case wrap (e.g., beverage container and snack flats)
- Liners (e.g., cereal box)
- Plastic package wrap (e.g., toilet paper)
Plastics
(All types with or without a number. No foam plastic a.k.a. STYROFOAM™)
- Bottles (e.g., beverage, laundry and household cleaners, personal care products, prescription)
- Food containers (e.g., cottage cheese, margarine, yogurt, take-out containers)
- Baskets
- Buckets
- Flower pots
- Product packaging
- Toys
Electronics
- Appliances
- Calculator
- Computer
- Computer peripherals
- Home entertainment (e.g., game systems, DVR, VCR, stereo, radio)