City of Zephyrhills, FL Home Page
Mayor W. Cliff McDuffie
July 30, 2010


City Manager
5335 8th Street
Zephyrhills, FL 33542
813-780-0000
Fax 813-780-0005

departments    public works    Recycling [Blue Bag] Information

 

Recycling Program Information
 
Blue bags are available at most local supermarkets and discount stores.
What goes in a blue bag?
  • Aluminum & metal cans - please rinse and remove any paper labels from food cans.
  • Glass jars and bottles - please empty, rinse and remove any lids and caps. There is no need to remove the labels from glass items.
  • Plastic containers that have #1 [pet] or #2 [hdpe] on the bottom are acceptable. This includes most milk jugs, soda bottles, and some household cleaning products. Unmarked plastics and all other numbered plastics are not acceptable for this program.
  • Please do not include the following items: Aerosol cans, batteries, oil/paint cans, hazardous chemicals, ceramics, crystal, light bulbs, mirrors, pyrex, window panels, metal caps, aluminum foil, eggs cartons, and pie cans.
  • Your recyclables are picked-up on a bi-weekly basis (Wednesday). Please do not place them inside a trash can.
 
If you have any questions, please contact the Sanitation Department at 813-780-0022. Participation is this important program is currently voluntary. Please help save valuable resources and diminishing landfill space by recycling. Your recycling efforts will benefit future generations.

 

Good to recycle Bad to recycle Notes
Unbroken glass containers
Clear is the most valuable. Lids can go with metal.		 Ceramics, pyrex, tablware, windows, lightbulbs, mirrors. Broken glass is hard to sort. Only bottle glass is acceptable. Ceramics contaminate glass. Glass is normally color sorted for recycling.
Clean dry newspapers &
newspaper inserts		 Rubber bands, plastic bags, product samples, water, dirt, mold or other contamination. Pack newspapers tightly in large brown grocery sacks or tie with natural twine. Keep dry.
Empty metal cans, caps, lids, bands and foil Full cans, spray cans unless instructed, cans with paint or hazardous waste. Metals can be recycled again and again.
Plastic stamped #1 or #2
on the bottom. Some areas only accept clear plastic or certain shapes.		 Plastic types #3, #4, #5, #6 or especially #7. Caps are usually a different type from the bottle - toss if unmarked. Even a small amount of the wrong type of plastic can ruin a melt. Much plastic collected for recycling is actually landfilled.
Grocery bags, most clear plastic bags especially if marked #2 or #4 Paper, water, dirt, mold or other contamination. Reduce your need; reuse bags until they're torn. Use old bags to pick up dog waste. Many grocery stores have a barrel for recycling old bags.
Mixed paper: junk mail, magazines, photocopies, computer printouts, cereal/shoe boxes, etc. (some places also take corrugated cardboard and phone books) Stickers, napkins, tissues, waxed paper, milk cartons, carbon paper, laminated paper (fast food wraps, some food bags, drink boxes, foil), neon paper, thermal fax paper. Any wet or food stained paper. When in doubt, throw it out.

Paper fiber can be recycled about 7 times before it gets too small. Plastic window envelopes are ok.
Scrap aluminum such as lawn chairs, window frames and pots Metal parts attracted to magnets. Non-metal parts. Aluminum is not attracted to magnets.
There is no need to remove labels or bands from cans and bottles. Clean only enough to prevent odors. Do not recycle containers with traces of hazardous materials. Do not recycle dirty or food stained paper.

Motor oil (never dump into storm drains) and Tires. Call your garbage company, local quick-lube, tire shop or call 1-800-MOTOROIL. Old oil and old tires are serious problems.
Automotive batteries, sealed lead/gel-cell batteries Keep lead out of the environment; take to an automotive or security dealer for recycling or trade in.
Rechargeable batteries (cordless phone, camcorder, shaver, portable appliance, computer, etc.) Call 1-800-8BATTERY for information. Throw alkaline and heavy duty batteries in trash unless prohibited. Nickel-Cadmium rechargeable batteries contain toxins, please recycle.
Laser/Ink printer cartridges Send to one of the many recyclers or refillers.
Household toxics (paints, oils, solvents, pesticides, cleaners) Call your garbage company for advice. Do not dump into storm drains.
Computers, eyeglasses, household goods Donate to charity. Give to a repair shop.
This is world's shortest comprehensive USA/Canada recycling guide. Contains generalizations; local procedures may differ. From the Consumer Recycling Guide, "www.obviously.COM/recycle/". ©1997-2003 Evergreen Industries. Remember: Unless you buy recycled products, you are not recycling.

 

 

Know Your Symbols

What Do the Three Chasing Arrows Mean?

Do you know why the recycling symbol has three chasing arrows? Each arrow represents one step in the three-step process that completes the recycling loop. The first step is collection. This is when you put your recyclable materials into your curbside recycling bin or take them to a local drop-off center. The collected materials are then prepared to be marketed and are sold to a manufacturing facility. The manufacturing process is the second arrow in the recycling symbol. The recyclable materials are converted into new products and shipped to stores across the country to be placed on shelves as new consumer goods. The third step is where you, the consumer, purchase products made with recycled content. When you "Buy Recycled," you complete the recycling loop, or "close the loop".

The chasing arrows symbol, by itself, can mean that a product or package is recyclable, contains recycled materials, or both. The Federal Trade Commission’s Environmental Marketing Guides require marketers to qualify whether the product or package is recycled content or recyclable. The guides can be found on the internet at www.ftc.gov/bcp/menu-enviro.htm. The chasing arrows symbol can be used without qualification only if the product or package is made entirely from recycled material and is commonly recyclable. Otherwise, the label should specify the percentage of recycled content used in the product or package.

This symbol designates products and packages made with 100% recycled paperboard.  The ability of recycling paperboard varies with collection programs.  Check first before saving.

Plastic containers are marked on the bottom with a symbol consisting of arrows in a triangular shape containing a number (1 through 7) and abbreviation identifying the component plastic resin. The Society of the Plastics Industry developed this symbol and number code to identify the type(s) of plastic used in a plastic product or package.

This symbol can help you to determine whether the product or package can be recycled in your local recycling program, but is not a claim of recyclability nor a claim of containing recycled materials.  Most recycling programs can only accept bottles with the numbers 1 or 2 inside.


Recyclability

The following symbols are often used on packaging to indicate that they are recyclable where recycling programs are available.

·  search / site map
·  Open Bids/RFP's
·  Job Listings
·  Activities
·  Visit Zephyrhills


Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead contact this office by phone or in writing.