Recycle Right
It’s not enough just to recycle. It’s also important to recycle right. In Franklin County, there are six material types that are currently accepted for household recycling.
Please flatten
Lids and labels accepted
All colors accepted
Remove aerosol tips
Rinse and remove lids and straws
Empty & remove straws
Keep items loose; don’t bag them.
Everything else should be reused, donated, composted or disposed of safely.
Putting unaccepted items into your recycling container can cause delays, put recycling workers at risk, and add expense to recycling.
Avoid putting the following items in with your recycling. Need to dispose of one of these items? We’ve got you covered. Find out what to do:
Recycle & Reuse Search Tool
Plastic Bags 
Hoses, wires, chains, clothing, electronics, ‘tanglers’ 
Foam food containers 
Light bulbs 
Party Cups 
Styrofoam 
Any plastic item that is not a bottle, jug, tub or cup 
Needles & medical waste 
Batteries 
Containers used to store hazardous materials Annually, Franklin County residents and businesses send over a million tons of material to the Franklin County Landfill. Even more surprising is that nearly 76% of all the material in the landfill could have been recycled or composted.
By taking just a few minutes to recycle right, you help to reduce pollution, contribute to clean water, conserve limited natural resources and reduce central Ohio’s reliance on landfills.
How can you give your recyclables a new life?
Get Started
Getting Started
Collection
Sorting
Processing & Manufacturing
A New Life
Make a Difference
By putting your recyclables in a recycling bin or recycling location, you can give them new life. For example, what happens to a plastic bottle after it leaves your home?
Plastic bottles are collected along with other recyclable items such as cardboard, glass, and aluminum cans.
Once collected, recyclable materials are delivered to a processing facility where different material types are separated using a series of conveyor belts, screens, electro-magnets, and human sorters. Once separated, plastic bottles are compressed into bales, sold, and shipped for further processing.
Plastic bottles and caps are chopped into small flakes and water is used to separate the materials by density—bottle pieces sink while cap pieces float. The separated material is heated into a liquid and extruded into long strands. The strands are cooled, chopped into pellets, and used to make a variety of products.
Plastic bottles can be recycled into durable backyard decks, carpeting, new bottles, or even soft, comfortable fabric used for fashion or upholstery. Bottle caps can become tough kitchen bowls and cutting boards, car battery cases, toothbrushes, and storage bins.
Start giving new life to all your recyclable materials. Learn about where you can recycle your items and how recycling makes a difference in our community.
Circular Ohio Make A DifferenceIn Franklin County, curbside recycling service is available to over 96% of households and SWACO operates 50 recycling drop-off locations for residents and businesses without recycling services. To find information about a curbside program or find a drop-off location close to you, see the links below.
Community Curbside Programs SWACO Recycling Drop-off LocationsWatch This Video From A Local Recycling Facility.
Interested in visiting Rumpke’s Columbus Recycling Facility?
Request a tour
Have a question about what’s accepted or not accepted for recycling in Franklin County? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Frequently Asked QuestionsOur Recycling and Reuse Search Tool connects you with hundreds of locations to find the best place to donate, recycle, compost or safely dispose of a wide range of items.
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