Commingled & Mixed Paper Recycling

Montclair Residents receive weekly curbside collection based on your area of town. See the Recycling Collection Map to find out which days your area is scheduled for pickup.

You can also bring these items to the Community Services Yard (219 N Fullerton Ave, Montclair) on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Mixed Paper must be separate from Commingled recyclables. All bottles and cans must be emptied and rinsed and caps removed. It is not necessary to remove labels.

Recycling containers must:

• be made of rigid plastic
• be covered
• have handles
• be no larger than 35 gallons.

All other mixed paper must be in a recycling container or set out in bundles or paper bags tied with twine.

Commingled

The following items must be recycled, and may be mixed together for collection; all items must be emptied and bottle caps removed and discarded.

• Aluminum cans, tin cans, and bi-metal cans;
• Glass bottles (clear, green, or brown);
• Plastic bottles, jugs or food containers marked with numbers “1”, “2” or "5" only, inside the recycling symbol (a triangle of arrows) printed on the bottom. Almost all plastic bottles and jugs are #1 and #2; #5 is typically found on yogurt cups and a few other food containers.
• Poly-laminated paper beverage containers (milk and juice cartons), and aseptic packaging containers (typically small juice and drink containers popular with schoolkids, and for other liquid foods), should now be added to the Commingled mix; they must be empty and flattened, with caps or straws discarded.

The following items are unacceptable for Commingled recycling:

• Plastic containers marked with all other numbers, all unmarked plastics, Styrofoam or any other foam material, and all plastic bags are not recyclable with our vendor, and therefore not accepted in Montclair’s curbside collection.
• Pesticide, motor oil, or antifreeze containers, as well as plastic pots used for plants, are also not accepted as recyclables.

Adding any plastics to the Commingled mix other than those listed above contaminates the load and creates double waste and pollution.

Mixed Paper

The following items must be recycled as Mixed Paper:

• newspapers;
• corrugated cardboard (must be flattened and tied);
• “junk” mail, including all mailers, inserts, and envelopes;
• all magazines and catalogues;
• office paper, stationary, and colored ledger (with or without staples / paper clips);
• copier paper, computer paper, and fax paper;
• envelopes (with or without windows);
• tab cards and manila folders;
• boxboard, or “grey cardboard”, as used in writing pads and cupboard-type boxes that may contain cereal, cookies, or cake mix (wax-paper liners removed);
• merchandise boxes from packaged goods (i.e., the box your toothpaste tube or aspirin bottle comes in);
• paper bags;
• phone books;
• greeting cards and postcards;
• math and composition paper;
• text books (hard covers removed) and all soft cover books (paperbacks);
• real estate books, coupons, and sweepstakes mailings.

The few following items are unacceptable for paper recycling:

• paper tissues, paper napkins or paper towels;
• pizza boxes or other food-contaminated paper;
• soiled paper;
• waxed cardboard;
• self-adhesive paper; construction paper; carbon paper; blueprint paper;
• hard-covered books (if covers are removed, the pages may be pulled out to be recycled);
• overnight letter jackets using Tyvek material or Mylar paper;
• photographic paper; metallic wrapping paper; or chemical containers;
• plastic, wax or cellophane wrappers.