America Recycles Day is Friday, Nov. 15.
The day of awareness, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful, encourages community members to visit americarecyclesday.org and take the #BeRecycled pledge to commit to recycling.
Participants commit to learning what materials are collected for recycling in their community and pledge to reduce the amount of waste they produce, recycle more, buy products made with recycled content, and encourage one family member or friend to also take the pledge.
Those who take the pledge are eligible for a local drawing for a $300 gift certificate from REI. Students in K-12 are eligible for a local drawing for a $300 REI gift certificate and a $500 grant to a local K-12 environmental program or club of their choice.
The national recycling rate has increased over the past 30 years to 34%, according to Keep America Beautiful. Rockville’s recycling rate is 42%.
Find a list of common items Rockville recycles in the box below and at www.rockvillemd.gov/recycling-trash.
Rockville also recycles metal items, including air conditioners, water heaters, refrigerators (with doors removed), grills, lawn mowers and more. For a complete list, select “Electronics & Metal” from the sidebar of the recycling webpage. Other special collection items include:
- Bulk refuse, for which Rockville provides six special collections per household per calendar year of items such as wooden furniture, fencing, landscape ties and construction debris.
- Electronics, such as televisions, computers, printers, small electronics, cords and cables.
- Hazardous household waste, such as oil-based paints, cleaners, oils, batteries and pesticides.
Call 240-314-8568 or email [email protected] to schedule a special collection, start service, get a larger recycling cart, report a missed collection, verify collection schedules or ask a question.
The city no longer accepts materials for recycling that are in plastic bags or that contain plastic bags. Many grocery or retail stores offer plastic bag collection bins near their entrances. Find a drop-off location at bit.ly/howtorecyclebags.
Rockville Recycles:
- Newspapers, bottles, cans (including empty aerosol cans) and cardboard.
- Rigid plastics, including toys, buckets, flower pots, laundry baskets and clothes hangers.
- Wax-coated milk and juice boxes, all junk mail (including those with plastic windows), catalogs and pizza boxes with minor grease.