The city of Tampa does have a curbside recycling program. The list of items allowed is continuing to grow and currently includes:
• Phone books,
• Paperback books
• Junk mail
• Cereal boxes
• 6-pack soda boxes
• Office paper and cardboard
• Magazines
• Newspapers & inserts
• Catalogs
• Plastic bottles (numbers 1 and 2 only)
• Aluminum and steel cans (including empty aerosol cans)
• Gable-top beverage containers (juice & milk containers)
• Glass bottles & jars (all colors)
Basically the only paper product that is not allowed are those coated with wax, i.e. anything that goes in the freezer or refrigerator. The wax coating causes problems for the machines that process the paper.
If you need additional recycling bins use the link, it is the quickest way to get one: Blue Bin Request
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PREPARATION of Recyclables:
* Please remove caps and lids and discard
* Please place all paper in a brown paper grocery bag
* Please remove the vellum windows from all envelopes
* No need to remove labels
* Please rinse all containers before placing them in your bins
*Cardboard must be flattened and cut down to fit in your blue bin (a maximum of 3 ft squares). If you have large quantities of cardboard, you may take it to the Manhattan Brush Site, 7215 S. Manhattan Ave., or the McKay Bay Refuse-To-Energy Facility at 107 N. 30th St. for free drop off.
What can't be recycled at this time?
Here are a few tips of what to leave out of your curbside recycling bin:
* Plastics numbered # 3-7 (margarine / yogurt tubs etc.)
* Used motor oil and motor oil containers (please place the containers in the garbage); To find a location for recycling used motor oil, call the Florida Department of Environmental Protection at 1-800-741-4337.
* Paint (open up cans to let paint dry or use newspaper to soak up any remaining paint), fluorescent bulbs, pool chemicals, mercury thermometers, chemicals, household cleaners, televisions, computer equipment - take to one of the City's biannual Household Chemical & Electronics Collections (call 813-348-6515 for more information), or to a Hillsborough County household chemical collection center. Contact the Hillsborough County Department of Solid Waste at 813-272-5680 for dates, times and locations.
* Batteries: Button and nickel cadmium batteries from cell phones etc should be taken to a participating store such as Radio Shack, Target, Home Depot etc., or to a Household Chemical Collection event.
* Plastic bags (these should go back to the grocery store for recycling)
* Styrofoam (some supermarkets offer recycling)
* Pizza boxes or any other type of waxed paper box
* Large quantities of corrugated cardboard (larger than 3 ft square which is the maximum size for cardboard collected curbside in your blue bin). Residents can drop off cardboard free at the Manhattan Brush site or at the McKay Bay Refuse to Energy facility. If you have a very large quantity, call a local paper recycler.
I have received an email suggesting that it is easier to fill up the large blue garbage containers then to use to the small blue recycle bins. While that may be true, the City is planning to switch the small blue recycle bins to large green recycle containers. The City is currently in the process of developing the plan, the cost, and the budget for these new containers. They could not give me a time frame for this switch to occur, but probably within the next 2 years, hopefully sooner.
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