As Longmont moves towards becoming a Zero Waste community, it is important to know what goes in your recycle and landfill (trash) bins. A material is recyclable only if it can be sold to a manufacturer and turned into something new. The numbers and symbol are for manufacturers; they are not a good way to tell if something can go into the recycle bin.

View the new Boulder County Recycling Guide to see all the things that can (and cannot) be recycled >

Top 3 No-no’s in Recycling

Plastic Bags

Plastic bags are the biggest problem for the Boulder County recycling center. Bags get stuck in the machines and cause the whole system to break down! Please don’t put your recyclables in plastic bags when you send them to the curb.

Want to recycle your plastic bags? You can take them to the Waste Diversion Center (WDC) or to some local grocery stores. The WDC accepts plastic bags marked with a #2 or #4 only (which primarily includes grocery bags, dry cleaning bags, and newspaper bags). They MUST be clean, dry and empty.

Cups

It comes as a surprise to many, but most cups are not recyclable at the Boulder County recycling facility. Coffee cups are paper lined with plastic, so they don’t break down like other paper does when recycled, and other cups are not recyclable because stable markets do not exist here for these materials.

To-go Boxes

Many to-go boxes are paper lined in plastic and therefore should not go in your recycle bin. Some are wax lined and can be composted — check for “BPI Certified Compostable” letting you know that is the case, usually located on the bottom of the container. When in doubt, throw it out!

For more information, including resources on where to take hard to recycle materials, visit LongmontColorado.gov/solidwaste.