Recycling
Keep your waste costs down by recycling these materials. Check back periodically as the list continues to grow.
When in Doubt, Throw it out!
Our goal is to keep this city beautiful and help make it easy for residents to do the same. Use this guide to determine which materials are considered recyclable and which are not.
Any item placed in your recycling cart will be sorted by a recycling processor that will determine the type of material. As long as the item isn’t on the “Not Acceptable” list, place it in the blue cart and we’ll take care of the rest.
Recyclables (Urban & Rural)
For the most up to date list on what you can and cannot recycle within the county of San Luis Obispo, please refer to the list provided by the San Luis Obispo Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA) available here.
Organics (Urban Only)
Please do not place any recycling or garbage in your green cart. Everything in the green cart needs to be compostable. Animal waste is not accepted as green waste.
Yard Trimmings
- Food scraps
- Grass
- Leaves
- Weeds
- Flowers
- Brush
- Small branches & prunings (less than 4 feet long and 6 inches in diameter)
- Unpainted scrap lumber
- Fruit tree droppings
- Trees (cut to fit in cart)
NOT ACCEPTED
Our organics truck has a video camera to monitor containers as they are emptied. Containers contaminated with trash will receive a service charge per incident. Repeat offenders will have containers removed.
- Hazardous waste
- Plastic, glass, cans or paper (recyclables)
- Dirt or rocks
- Poison oak, bamboo, palm fronds, cypress or ice plant
- Animal waste
- Diapers
- Landfill waste
Landfill (Urban & Rural)
If we can not accept a material in the blue (recycle) container or green (organics) container then it will be placed in the gray/black (landfill) container. This also includes contaminated materials. Contamination can make any recyclable material ineligible for recycling. Some materials, like metals, can be recycled even with high levels of contamination.
Hazardous Materials
We do not accept household hazardous waste. The San Luis Obispo IWMA operates hazardous waste disposal facilities throughout the county for no-charge disposal. Please visit iwma.com for locations and information. Items which cannot be placed in our containers for collection:
NOT ACCEPTED
- Oils*
- Used oil filters*
- Electronic waste**
- Batteries**
- Fluorescent lights**
- Televisions**
- Pesticides
- Paint
- Cleansers
- Hot coals or ashes
- Acids
- Drugs
- Explosives
- Caustics
- Poisons
- Pool chemicals
- Flammable liquids
- Cathode ray tubes
- Engine coolant
- Pesticides
* Free curbside oil recycling is available. Contact our office to schedule a pick-up of your used motor oil. We will provide you with a 15-quart capacity oil container and an oil filter bag.
** The San Luis Obispo Integrated Waste Management Authority had provided us with containers to accept your electronic waste, household batteries, fluorescent lamps and tubes which are located at our office.