South Lake Refuse & Recycling provides a blue cart for the weekly roadside collection of single-stream recyclable items.
As of January 1, 2022, you must sort your recyclables and organic waste including paper, cardboard, yard waste, food scraps, and food soiled paper from the garbage. It’s the law!
For set out rules and how to stop, start or change service, visit the Residential Services page.
Only place recyclable materials that are empty, clean & dry in the recycling cart.
No food, yard waste, garbage, or household hazardous waste in recycling carts.
Below are a few of the things that do not belong in recycling.
*Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) items such as fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) or tubes, batteries, paint, pesticides, cleaning products or electronics should be taken to a Lake County Hazardous Waste Collection event.
**E-Waste can be dropped off at the Recycling Center.
We know that it can be difficult to determine what materials are recyclable. All materials in the blue carts and recycling bins go to the South Lake Recycling Facility where the items are hand sorted and the non-recyclable items (contamination) and are separated from the recyclable materials. Only clean/dry recyclables can be sold to vendors who will turn them into a feedstock that can be used and made into other products.
Contaminants can have serious negative consequences for a recycling program. Here are just a few examples:
Contamination is the term used to describe anything that renders your recycled items non-recyclable. Besides ruining good material, contamination increases labor costs at processing facilities and decreases value of the materials, as workers try to separate contaminated material from good material.
Recycle carts WILL NOT be emptied if contaminated with trash or non-recyclable materials.
If the driver notices contamination, he/she may not be able to empty your container. If this happens, a Non-Collection Notice will be left on the container letting you know why the cart was not collected. You will also get an OOPS TAG which will tell you what contamination was found so will know the next time. You will be given the opportunity to clean up the container so it can be emptied on your next service say. Or you may opt to request a special pickup (for a fee) after removing the contaminants from the container.
Review the list of what materials CAN be recycled.
Unfortunately, when in doubt, it’s better to throw it out (in the garbage) than to risk contaminating your recycling cart.
To make sure that your recyclables are ready for recycling, please be sure they are: EMPTY, CLEAN, and DRY.
We make every effort to emptying your container(s) on your service day, but on occasion, we may miss you. We apologize if this happens.
Did you know you can also drop off recyclables at the South Lake Recycling Center?
Got a piece of furniture or other bulky item that you need to dispose of? You can call us to collect a single bulky item (twice a year) at no cost to you!
Dispose of materials like batteries, paints and household cleaners properly at a collection event for residents in Lake County.
© 2023 South Lake Refuse & Recycling
