Updated: Republic Services recycling guidelines

A version of this release originally ran on July 10, 2019 

(Oct.19, 2020) Ocean Pines and Republic Services, as part of a continuing educational campaign, are asking residents to be aware of recycling guidelines for local trash collection. 

Food, trash and other waste contaminates recycling and will cause containers to not be collected. Any contaminated material will have to be removed from the recycle container and placed into the curbside trash. 

“This will be the responsibility of the resident,” Republic Services General Manager Anthony Spirito said. “Republic Services designated trash collection trucks are not permitted to pick up any container marked recycling – only designated recycling trucks are permitted to do so. Any recycling remaining would be collected on the next scheduled recycle pick up day.” 

All recyclables should be kept empty, clean and dry, and free of any food or liquid. Items should also be kept loose, rather than in separate containers or bags.  

Republic Services will only accept the following items in marked recycling bins: 
 

• Plastic (#1 and #2 only) 
  • Plastic jugs, such as detergents, milk and juice, etc. do not need to be rinsed and the caps may be left on 
  • Water bottles and soda bottles must be empty, and caps may be left on 
• All paper, as long as it is free of food debris 
  • That includes newspapers, envelopes, junk mail, phone books, brochures, magazines, and cardboard (such as ream wrappers, file folders, poster board and clean cardboard boxes) 
• Aluminum/metal (such as clean beverage cans and food cans)  
  • All metal must be rinsed and dried, and clean of all food 
  • All metal must be clean of any plastics or fabrics 
  • All metal must be 100% metal only 
• Clear and colored glass (such as beverage containers and glass food jars) 

Items that CANNOT be recycled include: 
 

• Plastic (#3-#7) 
  • Plastic Bags 
  • Flowerpots 
  • Motor oil bottles 
  • Plastic fruit boxes 
• Paper with any food debris 
• Metal with anything nonmetal attached. Also, cat food cans are not recyclable 

Recycling containers that are contaminated are marked will be marked with a sticker as part of an educational campaign. Republic Services collects about 120 tons of recyclable items per month from Ocean Pines, which makes up roughly 40 percent of collections in this division. The company also serves areas including Cambridge, Maryland and Lewes, Delaware. 

Increased costs to recycle items, decreased demand for certain recycled materials, and an increase in the number of contaminated items has led to difficulties with recycling programs worldwide. Locally, about 35-40 percent of recycling containers include contaminated items that cannot be recycled.  

According to Republic, “When it comes to recycling, everyone has a part to play. Working together, we can make sure recyclable materials don’t end up in our lakes and landfills. At Republic Services, we believe in the preservation of our Blue Planet™, a cleaner, safer and healthier world where people thrive—not just for today, but for generations to come.” 

To learn more, visit www.RecyclingSimplified.com.