Please prepare your materials before you arrive at the Buyback or Drop-off center.
Don’t see your materials below? Need more detail? Please refer to our Recycling Guide to learn more and our external resources page to locate other recycling agencies. Print this page.
To see how to sort and recognize CRV recyclables see on our Buyback page.
We accept the following materials
Cardboard
Preferably dry and flattened cardboard; brown paper bags okay; no waxed cardboard.
Bulbs
Sorted by length/size/type. Place in appropriate box. Please be gentle and don’t break them. Not taped together.
Newspaper
Newspaper, preferably dry; a few magazines okay.
Batteries
Sorted by type (lithium, alkaline, automotive).
Mixed Paper
Mostly dry paper okay; junk mail okay.
Aluminum cans
Empty aluminum cans only; no liquids; flattened or whole okay. Sort by CRV if you’re going to the Buyback.
Bimetal cans
Empty bi-metal cans only; no liquids; Sapporo beer is an example of a bi-metal can.
Glass
Empty bottles and jars with no liquids; all glass must be sorted by color; please remove all caps!
Plastic: CRV
(California Redemption Value)
Empty narrow-neck bottles only; “narrow-neck” means the neck of the bottle is smaller than the base of the bottle; includes soda bottles, water bottles, milk and juice jugs, detergent bottles, shampoo bottles. Must be empty and sorted by #1 through #7. Please remove all caps!
Plastic: CRV
(California Redemption Value)
Empty narrow-neck bottles only; “narrow-neck” means the neck of the bottle is smaller than the base of the bottle; includes soda bottles, water bottles, milk and juice jugs, detergent bottles, shampoo bottles. Must be empty and sorted by #1 through #7. Please remove all caps!
Plastic: non-CRV
The only non-redemption plastic purchased at Berkeley Recycling is #1 (PET) and #2 (HDPE).
Aluminum foil
Aluminum foil with no food waste; includes rinsed aluminum pet food cans.
Tin cans
Cans must be empty and preferably rinsed before recycling; labels okay.
Scrap metal
Mostly-steel scrap includes bicycle parts, washers, dryers, dishwashers, stoves and mostly metal toasters. Small engines and lawnmowers must have fluids drained prior to arrival. No refrigerators, computers or peripherals.
Books
All books accepted for reuse; including soft and hard back, computer manuals, etc.
55-gallon drums
Drums – Metal only – we do not recycle plastic drums -must be completely empty and dry and either cut in half or with a visible four-inch diameter hole.
For any materials not on the list above please see our external resources page.
