These items can damage equipment at recycling facilities, harm employees at recycling facilities, or do not have strong markets to be turned into new products.
You can still recycle some of these items at drop-off locations. And for all of these items, think about ways you could avoid them – purchase high-quality items, buy used items, and find durable, reusable, or compostable alternatives.
- Plastic bags and film: These items get tangled in the equipment at recycling sorting facilities and interfere with the recycling process. Bring to a retail drop-off to be recycled.
- Large plastic items: Plastic lawn furniture, laundry baskets, storage tubs, and plastic toys are difficult to sort at recycling facilities and there aren’t good markets for recycling them.
- Random metal items: Pots, pans, pipes, hangers, tools, and other random metal items can damage equipment and harm workers at recycling sorting facilities. All metal can be recycled, just not in your recycling cart at home – bring these items to a scrap metal recycler. The Public Works facility at 4601 Toledo Avenue N operates a scrap metal Drop-Off Center for Robbinsdale residents and business owners. See below for more information.
- Batteries: These are too small to be sorted at recycling facilities, and certain batteries can cause fires. Batteries should be recycled at places like the county drop-off facilities.
- Bags of recyclables: Don’t put your recycling in bags in your recycling cart. Recyclers can’t tell what’s in the bag, so your items might not get recycled. Place recycling loose in your cart.
- Paper cups and plates and plastic utensils and straws: These items are often contaminated with food, are difficult to sort at recycling facilities, and don’t have good recycling markets. Avoid them by using reusable options.
Visit hennepin.us/recycling for the recycling guide of items that are accepted throughout Hennepin County and more information on the most important items to keep out of your recycling cart.
