Why recycle?
Our residents continue to benefit both the environment and the economy by recycling their plastic, paper, cardboard, glass and metal cans. Recycling allows existing items to be made into new products. Making products from recycled content decreases the need to extract new materials, such as petroleum, wood, minerals and water from the environment. Keep recyclables out of the garbage to ensure they are made into new products instead of wasting away in a landfill.
Empty, clean and dry
One of the easiest ways to recycle right is to make sure what you're putting in the recycling bin is empty, clean and dry. Food and liquids in recyclables can allow mold to grow, which make the materials unacceptable for recycling. Containers that previously contained food or liquid should be rinsed to remove food and liquid residue. Shake out excess liquid and air dry. When putting recycling in your curbside bin, make sure you don't overfill the bin and keep the lid shut tight. Overflowing bins or open lids make it more likely for rain or other water to get in and ruin the recycling.
When in doubt, find out
Recycle only materials that are accepted. Check recycling guidelines from Republic Services, Bellevue’s solid waste provider, to ensure you're putting the right materials in your recycle cart.
Recycling plastic bag and film waste
Plastic bags, film and wrap waste carry heavy costs for our environment. Unfortunately, these can't go in your recycling bin, and can cause big trouble for recycling facilities. The thin, flexible plastics can get tangled in equipment, shutting down processing and making it harder and more expensive to recycle other materials. Visit bagandfilmrecycling.org for participating plastic bag and film drop-off locations.
The City of Bellevue's goal is to achieve zero waste of resources. Follow the Zero Waste Public Event Guide to set up garbage, recycling, and composting services and avoid unnecessary waste at your event.
Event organizers: Garbage and recycling services are required at all events, and composting services for food scraps and compostable materials are strongly encouraged for any event with food service.