(Or: "Where can I dump this stuff? Somebody ought to recycle this!")

This is a brief guide to responsible disposal of waste and unwanted items. All too often, I see people throwing things in the trash that could be recycled or reused somehow. Mainly, I think it's because they are unaware of their options. This page seeks to provide that information.

Contents:  [Residential Recycling]  [Specific Items]  [Resources]

Please send corrections or additions to thundt@slack.net. (Does anybody know what to do with styrofoam?!)

Residential Recycling in SF

The trash/recycling pick-up people can be picky about what they will recycle. Sometimes this violates common sense: They will not officially accept a type 2 plastic jar, but will accept a type 2 plastic bottle. If cardboard is not cut up and bundled to their specifications, they may leave it.

There are scavengers who come at night and will sort through your bin, taking the saleable items (esp. cans and bottles) to sell to wholesale recycling agents.

Specific Items and How To Dispose of Them Responsibly

• Aluminum Cans and Pie Tins Place in blue bin.
• Appliances (Broken) Call Sunset Scavenger for pickup. Currently, they are no longer doing bulk-item pickups en masse, they have a new system where you may call for a pickup twice a year.
• Appliances (Working) Try calling Goodwill. Or, bring them to Building Resources.
• Automotive Chemicals (e.g., oil, gasoline, antifreeze) Bring to Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility. For oil, there is a special program of the HWMP, there are many locations to drop it off, mostly gas stations. See also: Disposal of Automotive Products [SFPUC].
• Cardboard Either cut into 2-foot square sections, bundle with string (or place in paper bags) and put out with your regular recycling (blue bin).
  Alternative: Bring it to Recycling Resource, who will actually pay you for it (though I never bother, preferring to just drop and go). This is where those late-night scavengers bring it to. RR does not require bundling, flattening, or cutting, so if you have the room, it's a lot easier just to save some up and bring a batch to them, once in a while.
• Art Supplies Donate to East Bay Center for Creative Reuse.
• Batteries (Household) Recycle at Cole Hardware locations.
• Batteries (Car) There are various drop-off locations, mostly auto-parts suppliers. (Often, they will give you credit for bringing in your old battery. They call this a "core charge" which they refund when you bring in the old item [the "core", as in radiator core] back.) Or, you can bring to Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility. (Also: http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/puc/html/auto2.htm.)
• Books SF has quite a few used bookstores. They may not pay you for your books, but will take them and find new homes for them. If you must throw them out, handle like scrap paper.
• Building Materials Bring them to Building Resources.
• Cars (Dead) San Francisco has a few junkyards, look in the Yellow Pages under Auto Salvage. (Several are across the street from Circosta Metals.)
• Cars (Working) There are many organizations that advertise for donations of used cars.
• Clothing Donate to Goodwill or similar organization.
• Computers are a modern problem; most places (e.g., Computers for Schools) have standards which the computer you just replaced will not wind up meeting. They may be able to help you find help recycling it, though.
  Paradise Garage will recycle computers and monitors.
• Furniture Goodwill and other thrift shops may be interested. Other places to try: shops on Valencia (near 20th) in SF; Urban Ore and others nearby (Gilman & 6th) in Berkeley.
• Glass Bottles Put in the blue bin. (They do not want plate glass.)
• Grass Clippings Put in your compost bin. Don't have one? SLUG sells them (through outlets such as Cole Hardware). Also: check with your local community garden (try SLUG for locations), they may have composting bins which you can "contribute" to.
• Junk Mail, Scrap Paper, Newspapers, Magazines Put in paper bags and put out with your regular recycling. Or if they have lots of pictures, you might consider donating them to the East Bay Center for Creative Reuse.
• Metal (Ferrous, copper, brass, aluminum) Ferrous means iron-containing, i.e., a magnet will be pulled to (examples: bed frame, computer case). These items may be recycled at Circosta Metals.
• Metal (Nonferrous) Bring to Recycling Resource.
• Office Supplies Bring to East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse.
• Oil See Automotive Chemicals, above.
• Paint (Latex) Either bring to Household Hazardous Waste Disposal or another drop-off location.
• Plastic Shopping Bags Make a "bag of bags" and bring them to Safeway or other supermarket that recycles them.
• Plastic Bottles Type 1 or 2 plastic (check triangle symbol on bottom), put in the blue bin.
• Plastic "Peanuts" Bring to local Mailboxes Etc. or similar store. Call the Plastic Loose-Fill Peanut Hotline (800-828-2214) for locations.
• Tree Branches Bring to SLUG farm on Alemany Ave. No palm fronds!

• Building Resources 415-285-7814 701 Amador (off 3rd, north of Evans), SF CA. Hours: every day 9-4:30.
• Circosta Iron & Metal 1801 Evans at Rankin, SF CA. Hours: M-F 8-11:45, 12:30-4, Sat 8-11:45. Ferrous metals recycling.
• Cole Hardware has three stores: 415-753-2653 956 Cole St., 415-777-4400 70 - Fourth St., 415-647-8700 3312 Mission St.
• Disposal of Automotive Products from the SF Public Utilities Commission.
• The Dump (Sanitary Fill Co public disposal) 501 Tunnel Ave (101 Candlestick exit), SF CA. Hours: Mon-Fri 7-6, Sat-Sun 8-4:30. Fee: $16 min, $60/ton.
• East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse 510-547-6470, 6713 San Pablo Ave (Folger St), Oakland CA. M-F 11-6, Sat-Sun 10-5. Article at stopwaste.org
• Norcal Waste Systems owns the SF garbage-collection companies Golden Gate Disposal, Sunset Scavenger, West Coast Recycling, and Sanitary Fill Co..
• Goodwill Industries has numerous locations in SF, two of which are 3rd/Evans (415-641-4470, Mon-Fri 10-7, Sun 11-6) and Mission/19th (415-826-5759, Mon-Sat 10-8, Sun 11-6). For larger items like furniture, they will pick up from you (call 888-4-GOODWILL).
• Guide to San Francisco Environmental Services, part of CitySpan. An excellent list of organizations dealing with environmental issues.
• OaklandRecycles.com, official city website with extensive reuse directory.
• Paradise Garage 510-839-4751 2335 Valley St, Oakland CA 94612. Computer recycling to the needy. Wipes hard drives first. Will dispose of monitors for $15 (recycling, not landfill).
• Recycling Resource 3rd/Evans, SF CA. Hours: every day 830-4. Accept: cardboard, glass, nonferrous metals.
• Sanitary Fill Company 415-330-1400.
• SF Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility 415-554-4333, 415-330-1400 Tunnel Ave, SF CA. Hours: Thurs-Sat 8-4. Notes: This is the same location as public dump. Hazardous material disposal is FREE to SF residents. Certain classes of materials (e.g., leftover paint) may be dropped off at other locations (e.g., Cole Hardware); check the website for details.
• SFRecycles.org is the official website of San Francisco's recycling programs, and has lots of info (including official guidelines) and suggestions of where to bring many of the above items. Curbside recycling hotline: 415-330-CURB.
• SLUG (SF League of Urban Gardeners) 415-285-7584 2088 Oakdale Ave, SF CA. Composting, community gardens. Farm is on Alemany Ave, heading west from Bayshore/280.
• World's Shortest Comprehensive Recycling Guide isn't actually as short as it appears, and has some interesting background info.