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Accepted Materials - Residential Recycling
 Denver Recycles accepts for recycling:
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- Aluminum cans, foil, trays and pie plates are all accepted for recycling.
- Remove as much food residue as possible.
- NO foil bags, such as potato chip bags.
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- Food and beverage glass only.
- NO glass from window, vases or drinking cups
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STEEL AND EMPTY AEROSOL CANS:
- Aerosol cans must be empty.
- Labels are OK.
- Remove plastic caps unless they are part of the can.
- Spray nozzles are OK.
- NO full or partially-full aerosol cans. Do not puncture.
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PLASTIC BOTTLES:
- ONLY PLASTIC BOTTLES.
- Check the neck. Bottles have a neck or opening smaller than the base or the container and many have screw tops.
- Don't worry about the numbers.
- Please flatten bottles.
- NO lids, tubs, cups, trays or bags. Read more about plastic ....
Acceptable items include:
- Water, soda and juice bottles
- Milk and Orange Juice jugs (not paper cartons)
- Shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap bottles
- Liquid detergent and other cleaning supply bottles
- Ketchup and other condiment bottles (rinse out please)
- Peanut butter jars(rinse out please)
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- Flatten and cut to pieces no larger than 2 feet by 2 feet.
- Only broken down boxes inside the cart will be collected for recycling.
- NO wax coated cardboard.
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- Remove food and food wrappings.
- NO plastic bags.
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PAPERBOARD:
- Flatten or cut into pieces no larger than 2 feet by 2 feet.
- Remove plastic or wax paper bags.
- NO foil coated paperboard.
- NO paper milk or juice cartons.
- NO paper coffee cups.
Acceptable items include:
- Boxes for cereal, tissues, beverages, food, soap, etc.
- Gift, shirt and shoe boxes
- Hanging file folders
- Paper egg cartons
- Paper towel and toilet paper tubes
- Frozen food boxes (but not the ones that have a waxy, white coating on the inside)
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NEWSPAPER:
- Recycle the entire newspaper, including ads and inserts.
- Remove any bags or rubber bands.
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OFFICE PAPER :
- Shredded paper must be placed in paper bags.
- Paperclips, stamps, staples, tape and sticky notes are OK.
- NO Tyvek® (polyethylene fiber) envelopes, such as some overnight mailing envelopes.
- NO plastic wrappers.
Acceptable items include:
- Office paper
- Adding machine tape
- Receipts
- Brochures and glossy ads
- Fax paper
- Greeting cards
- Postcards and index cards
- Loose leaf and legal pad paper
- Stationary, letterhead, copy and typing paper
- File folders (manila and pastel only)
- Paper envelopes (plastic windows OK)
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JUNK MAIL
- Window envelopes are okay to recycle.
- Paperclips, stamps, staples, tape and sticky notes are OK.
- NO bubble envelopes or Tyvek® (polyethylene fiber) envelopes, such as some overnight mailing envelopes.
- NO plastic wrappers.
Acceptable items include:
- Opened mail
- Greeting cards
- Postcards and index cards
- Loose leaf and legal pad paper
- Stationary, letterhead, copy and typing paper
- Paper envelopes (plastic windows OK)
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MAGAZINES AND CATALOGS:
- Remove plastic bags and wrap.
- Discard non-paper inserts such as CDs and magnets.
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PHONE BOOKS:
- Remove bags, plastic wrap and magnets.
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Materials Not Accepted
The items below are not accepted in the Denver Recycles program. Please follow the list of acceptable materials. Incorrect items can contaminate an entire load. DO NOT ADD any of the following items to your recycling containers:
NO Plastic wrap
NO Cups
NO Plastic lids, caps or tops
NO Full aerosol cans
NO Paint cans
NO Scrap metal
NO Wire
NO Metal utensils
NO Hangers 
NO Dishes
NO Light bulbs
NO Mirrors
NO Window glass
NO Drinking glasses
NO Plastic bags
NO Plastic tubs
NO Plastic plates
NO Plastic egg cartons
NO Six pack rings
NO Paper milk or juice cartons 
NO Tissue paper or napkins
NO Paper towels or plates
NO Wrapping paper
NO Waxed paper
NO Carbon paper
NO Photographs
NO Flower pots 
NO Toys
NO Styrofoam containers
NO Foam
NO Food or garbage
Denver Recycles DOES NOT accept any of these items. Unacceptable items will be left in the container with an explanation. We will stop collection on containers that frequently contain unacceptable items. To find a suitable recycling or reuse option for these and other items, please search our recycling directory.
How Clean is Clean?
How clean do bottles and jars need to be?
In most cases, a simple light rinsing will do. Containers don’t need to be sparkling clean.
For “stickier” food items (such as mayonnaise or peanut butter jars) the containers might need to be scraped or wiped clean to remove as much food material as possible.
Educational Brochures
Download these bilingual brochures:
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