Town of Carbondale Residential Trash and Recycling Services

Helpful Tips on Recycling Certain Products:

Unsure whether an item is recyclable? Here are some quick rules of thumb to consider for each type of material many would consider recyclable:

Plastics: Only recycle plastic bottles and tubs. This is typically a #1 through #7 plastic and only pertains to the bottles and tubs. Here are some examples of plastic bottles that are okay to recycle:

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ • Soda, water and juice bottles

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ • Liquid detergent and other cleaning supply bottles

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ • Condiment bottles (ketchup, mustard, etc.)

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ • Milk jugs and orange juice jugs (no paper cartons)

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ • Shampoo bottles and liquid soap dispensers

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ • Peanut butter jars (please rinse out)

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ • Butter and yogurt tubs

Steel: Please make sure any aerosol cans are completely empty. This includes containers such as shaving cream and hairspray cans. Labels are okay.

Office Paper: All types of office paper are accepted. If you can tear it, we can take it. All colors are fine as well. Don’t worry about paper clips, staples, tape, and sticky notes. These are all okay in the mix. NO TYVEK (polyethylene fiber) plastic or overnight mailing folders.

Bulk or Junk Mail: This material is okay as well. Do not worry about any stamps or staples or sticky notes in this material, either. Remember, if you can tear it, we can take it. Again, NO TYVEK (polyethylene fiber) plastic or overnight mailing folders.

Magazines, Catalogs, Phone Books: Please discard plastic bags around these items and items such as CDs and magnets. Everything else is acceptable.

View a graphic with our Single Stream Recycling Guidelines

We know that every dollar counts! With rural mountain life comes a higher cost of living. We work diligently to keep our costs down in what is arguably the toughest physical environment for a waste management company like ours to thrive. Our distance from population centers impacts the cost of our services, because we are miles away from materials processing centers. Our loads of recycling are regularly transported at least 60 miles away to the nearest sorting facility. These locations charge a fee to deposit recycling materials, based on weight.

The challenges of transportation in high-mountain rural Colorado impact our trash and recycle service fees. When you pay for our services, your money stays right here in Colorado. It keeps local people employed.