Refuse and Recycling Information

Collection Schedule | What Can Be Recycled | Refuse & Recycling Tips | Recycling Quiz

The Solid Waste Division is responsible for the collection and disposal of the City's solid waste. This includes special metal pickup, recycling, yardwaste and twice weekly household refuse pickup. For more information, please call 301-809-2344.

Refuse

Refuse (garbage) is collected twice weekly within the City limits as per the refuse and recycling schedule.

Refuse includes household trash and garbage, mattresses, box springs, wood tables, desks, furniture (regardless of size), rugs and carpets (cut into 4 feet lengths, tied or taped in rolls), wooden furniture, sliding glass doors, windows, but no other metal items. It also includes scrap wood and branches larger than 3 inches in diameter (branches still must be no longer than 4 feet and tied securely or placed in boxes or cans) and empty or dried out paint cans). The City will not pick up rocks, dirt, sod, mulch, concrete bricks, car parts, commercial products, or stumps largen than six inches in diameter. In addition, liquid paint, hazardous materials, and any bag or container over 50 pounds will not be collected. Tires will not be collected with refuse, but will require a special pickup.

All refuse should be placed in containers and/or bagged or boxed. Refuse must be placed at the curb for collection no later than 7 a.m. the morning of collection but no earlier than the evening prior to collection.

Recycling

The City collects recycling at curbside once weekly. Glass, metal, plastic and paper go in blue recycling bins or carts and are picked up on your scheduled day. All recycling must be at the curb by 7 a.m.

See list of items that can be recycled.

When your recycling day falls on one of your refuse days, please place your recycling on one side of your driveway and your refuse on the other.

Recycling Cart Program

Following a pilot project in 2010 that saw a 30% increase in the volume of materials being recycled, the City Council has decided to distribute large recycling carts to all neighborhoods. Beginning in the fall of 2011, the carts will be phased in over two years, with half of the City receiving carts in 2011 and the remainder in 2012.

These carts are on wheels and should make it easier for households to recycle more items. Single family homes will receive 65-gallon carts and townhomes will be given 35-gallon carts.  

Despite the initial outlay, the City expects the carts to save money in the long run. Each ton of refuse that is recycled rather than put in a landfill saves approximately $56 and helps the environment. 

The aim of the program is to make it easier for residents to recycle more items and make it easier for them to get the items to the curb. Residents are asked to put the carts out with the handle facing the street.  The carts can be lifted and dumped by a mechanical arm on the recycling trucks.  The carts should never be used for trash.

View list of neighborhoods receiving carts in 2011.
Still have questions about the recycling carts? View our FAQ.

Disposing of Other Items:

Hazardous Materials
Leaves
Motor Oil
Yard waste

Learn more about recycling and other things you can do to help the planet:

OurEarth.org