City of
Ashtabula
Sanitation Department
Curbside Recycling for Ward 1 and 2
The City of Ashtabula will provide recycling collection service in addition to rubbish collection for residents in Wards 1 and 2. The enhanced service will now include curbside recycling pickup and is designated to make collection easier and safer, reduce on the job injuries, provide cleaner neighborhoods, increase the volume of recycling, and stabilize long term disposal costs.
​
Each residence will receive a 64-gallon two wheeled recycling cart. The navy blue cart with yellow lid is a heavy-duty cart and will include information on the lid regarding what can be recycled, provides a more convenient way for residents to recycle large quantities, has an attached lid and is animal resistant. The recycling cart also enables collection by an automated truck, which enhances safety, and eliminates the blowing and scattering of recyclable materials. Please do not use your recycling cart for extra rubbish. Recycling carts containing rubbish will not be emptied and will be tagged to notify the resident of improper use.
To use, simply place your recyclable materials loose (do not bag) into the supplied recycling cart. On your collection day pull your respective cart within 2-3 feet of the street with the lid openings facing the street. The carts should be at least three feet from other objects such as parked cars, mail boxes, trees, or bulky trash items. Though recycling service is provided every other week on Friday, it is only necessary to place your recycling cart to the curb when it is full.
Recycling pickup will be done typically on Friday’s unless there is a Holiday in which the Sanitation Department is designated off for the day. Your recycling will be picked up every other week per the pickup schedule at the top of this page.
Single Stream Recycling – There is no need to separate recyclables. All recyclable materials can be placed together loose (no need to bag) into your new recycling cart as a “single stream” of recyclable material. The individual components of the mixed recyclable materials or “single stream” will be segregated and prepared for market at a material recovery facility using automated recycling. See the attached complete list of all the items which can be placed in your recycling cart to be recovered and returned to markets.
Plastics Now Recycled – Most plastic products are labeled on the bottom with a recycling symbol consisting of arrows that cycle clockwise to form a rounded triangle, and enclosing the number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7. Any rigid food container or other consumer product container labeled in this fashion can now be included for recycling. Plastic items not acceptable include plastic bags, shrink wrap, Styrofoam, toys, motor oil and antifreeze containers. Recycling a ton of plastic saves the energy equivalent of 1,500 gallons of gasoline!
Tips to Recycle Correctly:
It is absolutely imperative that ALL material be received LOOSE (not in bags of any kind). The material is sorted by a combination of hand sorting and machine sorting. The material is pushed onto a conveyor belt, and through different processes ends up sorted with like material. Bags slow this process, drive up costs (which are ultimately put back on solid waste districts), and get tangled in the rollers of the conveyor belts. You can see a video of these MRF (material recovery facility) processes here.
​
Items can be commingled (mixed together) in the same container. This simplifies recycling at home.
Lightly rinse your food containers. This is mainly to keep down the smell between collections, as well as deters rodents and insects from your recycled containers. It’s not necessary to remove labels or caps, as these will be burned off during the manufacturing process.
Adding incorrect materials to your load causes contamination, and could cause your entire recycling load to be discarded in the landfill.