America Recycles Day is Monday, Nov. 15.
The 25th annual day of awareness, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful, encourages community members to visit americarecyclesday.org and take the #BeRecycled pledge to commit to recycling. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is sponsoring its own pledge challenge, featuring prizes. Visit bit.ly/MWCOGRecycles.
The national recycling rate has increased from less than 7% in 1960 to 32% today, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Rockville’s recycling rate is 42%.
At the 2020 America Recycles Summit, the EPA announced a first-ever national recycling goal of 50% by 2030.
Find a list of common items Rockville recycles at www.rockvillemd.gov/recycling-trash.
Rockville also recycles 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.
The city will not accept 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.
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.
Be Cart Smart
When setting carts out for recycling and trash collection, remember to place carts in the street along the curb in front of your property. Along busy streets, where carts in the street could pose a hazard, place carts adjacent to, but not in, the street, such as in the grass buffer between the sidewalk and street or, in locations where there is no buffer, behind the sidewalk. In all cases, carts should not be placed in the sidewalk because it impedes the path of pedestrians and can be particularly hazardous for those who use a wheelchair and cannot navigate around or move the carts.