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Single Stream Recycling

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1. What is single stream recycling?

Single stream recycling allows for the recycling of everything acceptable (glass, plastic, metal, aluminum and paper) to be set out all together in the same container and on the same day. It also increases the items that can be recycled at curbside, including all numbers of plastic containers (i.e. beverage and food, laundry soap, dish soap, peanut butter jars, margarine tubs, yogurt containers), rigid plastic items (lawn furniture, plastic coolers, drinking cups, 5-gallon buckets, flower pots, nursery pots, garbage cans, plastic toys), glass food and beverage bottles and jars and metal and aluminum cans, aluminum foil, aluminum disposable bakeware, empty aerosol cans, and milk and orange juice cartons.

2. Do I need trash collection to have curbside recycling collection?

Yes, the trash collectors pick up the recycling as well as trash from their customers. Alternatively, county residents who do not subscribe to a curbside trash collection service can bring their recyclables, free of charge, to the Harford Waste Disposal Center located at 3241 Scarboro Road, in Street.

3. How do I know what day of the week my recycling will be picked up by my trash collector?

Please contact your trash collector for the pickup day of your address. The residential trash collectors in Harford County are: 

Bartenfelder Sanitation Services, 410-420-9220 
GFL Environmental, 410-457-0404
Harford County Trash Services, 443-841-6253
Republic Services, 800-284-7056  

Note: Harford County licenses, but does not endorse, trash collectors. If you encounter a firm not on the list above, please contact Harford County’s Solid Waste Management at 410-638-3637.

4. Why doesn’t Harford County provide recycling containers to residents?

Providing recycling containers is not economically feasible because of the expense involved, however, to make recycling convenient for residents, there is considerable flexibility in how recycling can be set out for collection. Recyclables may be placed together and set out in a variety of containers such as spare trash cans, new trash cans, corrugated cardboard boxes, even laundry baskets. They could also be placed together in paper bags for collection. Plastic bags, however, may not be used or disposed with the recyclables. Plastic bags foul up the single stream recycling processing equipment.

5. I was only provided with one recycling sticker to place on my container to designate it for recycling. What if I have more than one container?

As an alternative to recycling stickers, residents may mark an “X” on the side of their recycling container(s) or tie a blue plastic bag onto the handle of the container to designate it for recycling. If you wish to receive more recycling stickers, please call the Recycling Office at 410-638-3417 and one will be mailed to you.

6. Why can’t I recycle plastic bags at curbside? Where can they be recycled?

Plastic bags create problems for the machinery used in the separation process so we are requiring residents not to place plastic bags in with curbside recyclables. Most grocery stores in Harford County accept plastic bags for recycling. Look for the bag container at the front of the store. Please be sure there is nothing left in the plastic bags and that it is dry. We encourage everyone to begin using the re-usable grocery sacks also available from many sources.

7. What type of plastics can I put out for recycling?

You may put out all plastic containers with the number designations (1 through 7) on the bottom of the container, including narrow-necked and wide-mouthed, as well as rigid plastic such as toys, coolers, lawn furniture, drinking cups, garbage cans, laundry baskets, buckets, nursery pots, and flower pots.

8. What happens to the paper, metal, glass, plastic and aluminum after it is collected from my house and how are they separated?

Recycling is picked up at curbside by your trash collector and brought to the Harford County Recycling Transfer Station at the Harford Waste Disposal Center, where they are loaded onto tractor trailers and transported to a processing facility in Baltimore County. The segregated material is then sent to secondary market vendors who process the material into re-usable products. Plastic is used to manufacture new containers, carpeting, and fleece clothing. Paper is used to make newsprint. Cardboard is used to make new cardboard and other packaging material. Glass is used to make new glass containers and fiberglass insulation. Aluminum cans are used to make new aluminum cans. Tin cans are used to make new steel products.

9. What do I do if I need more than one recycling container; is there a limit?

You may set out as many recycling containers as needed; there is no limit to the amount of recycling you can set out. Large items such as cardboard and rigid plastic items can be placed next to the containers. Mark an “X” on any additional containers or tie a blue bag to the handle to identify them as recycling containers. See the recycling container question if you wish to obtain additional recycling stickers. Alternatively, you may print off a recycling sticker by clicking the icon at the top of this web page.

10. Can residents living in apartments and condominiums recycle?

Maryland law requires that all apartment and condominium communities with 10 or more units provide a recycling program for residents. For more information, please contact the Office of Recycling at 410-638-3417 or harfordrecycles@menv.com.

11. Who do I call if my recycling wasn’t picked up?

Your trash collector also picks up your recycling. Residential trash collectors in Harford County are: 

Bartenfelder Sanitation Services, 410-420-9220 
GFL Environmental, 410-457-0404 
Harford County Trash Services, Inc., 443-841-6253 
Republic Services, 800-284-7056 

Note: Harford County licenses, but does not endorse, trash collectors. If you encounter a firm not on the list above, please contact Harford County's Solid Waste Management at 410-638-3637.

12. Do I have to rinse my recyclables?

It depends on the material contained in the recyclable container. For food and beverage containers we do ask that they be completely empty and lightly rinsed.

13. Do I have to take labels off of containers?

No, labels can remain on jars and cans.

14. Why should we recycle when it’s easier just to landfill?

Landfill space is filling up. Why landfill when there are markets for the recyclable items? Recycling saves natural resources and energy and creates less pollution when items are remanufactured using recycled material rather than virgin material.

15. Will more people recycle now?

With the added convenience of single stream recycling and not having to sort paper from containers, the participation rate is expected to increase. For municipalities which have switched to a single stream recycling program, the national average indicates a 20% increase in material recycled.

16. Do you have any drop-off locations?

Recyclable materials can be dropped off at Harford Waste Disposal Center at Scarboro Landfill, 3241 Scarboro Road Street, MD 21154. They accept all recyclable materials free of charge, Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Also accepted for recycling at HWDC are clothing and textiles, computers, scrap metal, motor oil and antifreeze, ink cartridges, used propane cylinders, and wet cell batteries.

17. What do you charge to drop off recycling?

Recycling is accepted free of charge for county residents who bring their recyclables to the Harford Waste Disposal Center at Scarboro Landfill. Charges do apply if the resident also has household trash in the same trip.

18. What are the advantages to single stream?

Not only is single stream recycling more convenient, a wide variety of additional items can now be recycled and diverted from the County’s waste stream. Harford County has entered into a contract with Waste Management for the disposal of the recyclable material which will reduce the annual operating expenses by $400,000 per year. Additionally, single stream is more environmentally friendly since more disposed material will be put towards secondary uses and fewer vehicle emissions will be created since the trash collectors can compact the recyclables and carry more material per trip.

19. What exactly can I put into my single stream container?

Clean newspapers, magazines, and catalogs, junk mail, envelopes (plastic windows okay), phone books, hardback and paperback books, office paper (writing, copy, computer, letterhead, NCR), cardstock/greeting cards, paper bags, paperboard boxes (cereal, frozen food, shoe, etc.), corrugated cardboard, milk, juice, and ice cream cartons and boxes; bottles and jugs (milk, water, detergent, salad dressing, cooking oil, shampoo, spray products, etc.), wide-mouth containers (margarine, yogurt, peanut butter, etc.), disposable plastic cups, plastic toys, plastic lawn furniture, plastic coolers, plastic buckets, trash cans, laundry baskets, flower and nursery pots, aluminum and steel/tin cans (drink, food, and pet food), EMPTY aerosol cans (except pesticide and spray paint), aluminum foil, aluminum foil bakeware, glass, food, and beverage bottles and jars (any color)

20. Can I put grass clippings and tree limbs into my recycling container?

No. Yard trimmings (grass clippings, limbs, branches, bushes, leaves) can be brought free to either the Harford Mulch and Compost Facility, Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., or the Tollgate Yard Trim Drop Off Facility, 703 North Tollgate Road Bel Air, MD 21014, is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from April through November and Saturdays only from December through March.

21. How can I reduce the amount of catalogs I receive in the mail?

If you seem to receive every catalog ever printed and want to help the environment and save a few trees, go to the Catalog Choice website to cancel those unwanted catalogs. It’s actually fun and very user-friendly.

Catalog Choice Website

22. Are coroplast (polypropylene) campaign signs recyclable?

Coroplast (corrugated polypropylene) signs are not accepted for single stream recycling and should be disposed with the trash.