Recycling Center Tips: Only metal cans and foil products in your blue bins, please

Another installment of learnings from my trip to our Recycling Center...

Remember that metal conduit? Unfortunately, it is often in the company of other metal items that poke and prod the equipment at our Recycling Center. Here are some examples:

A metal roasting pan and metal piece with sharp edges (the round item at the top left is a tea kettle, also in the "thanks, but no" category for blue bin curbside collection)

Here is a piece of what looked like part of a metal frame (plus that tea kettle again!)"

The thing is that our sorting process and machinery are set up for accepting metal only in the form of cans and foil products. Oversize items can jam up the works. And, those sharp edges and pointy bits can damage the machinery (more on that later...).

Tip: We provide curbside scrap metal collection for large items at no charge. And, we set up a handy shortcut for details about this popular service: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/scrapmetal. If you have smaller amounts of scrap metal, or prefer to transport the metal yourself, use the scrap metal recycling area at our Solid Waste Transfer Station, also at no charge.