Much of what normally heads for a landfill can be recycled. Check out the recycling menu on this site.

Blue bins for the City's curbside collection recycling program are available at no cost from several locations in the Buffalo. Click here for the list.

Put your recycling bins out on the same day your regular trash is collected. Recycling is collected separately, so it may be picked up before or after your regular trash.

Unfortunately, these #1 clamshells are not accepted in the City of Buffalo's recycling program.

Plastics are sorted both at the curb by the street crews or by hand at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF). In either case, workers do not have time, nor the eyesight, to find that recycling indicator. Since most clamshells are not #1, all are either put back into your recycling box or discarded at the MRF.

The rule of thumb is to keep things simple. Just recycle plastic bottles and jugs.

In 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, the Container Corporation of America (now part of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. and at the time the nation's largest producer of recycled paperboard), sponsored a contest for a design that would symbolize the recycling process. The design was to appear on the company's recycled paperboard products.

The contest was won by Gary Anderson, at the time a senior at the University of Southern California. His design, three chasing arrows, was based on 19th century mathematician August Ferdinand Mobius' discovery that a strip of paper twisted once over and joined at the tips formed a continuous single-edged, one-sided surface. This is why we sometimes call the recycling symbol a Mobius loop.

The following regulations are subject to Class C fines ($52.50) if not complied with. If you wish to report properties that are in violation of the following ordinances, please contact Citizen Services at 851-4890 or visit the Mayor's Call and Resolution Center on the City's website.

• GARBAGE AND TRASH OUT TOO EARLY - Chapter 216-14: Garbage, 2-piece trash, yard debris and recyclables must be placed out for collection no earlier than 7:00 p.m. the evening before, or no later than 7:00 a.m. on the morning of your regularly scheduled collection day.
• TOTES AND RECYCLING CONTAINERS NOT REMOVED FROM CURB AFTER COLLECTION - Chapter 216-14: all containers must be removed from the curbline within twelve (12) hours after collection.
• IMPROPER STORAGE LOCATION OF CITY PROVIDED RECEPTACLE OR TOTE - CHAPTER 216-14: All garbage receptacles shall be kept in rear yards and may not be stored in the front of properties, unless authorization is received from the Commissioner of Public Works and Streets. (Please make request for waiver in writing to Commissioner of Public Works, 65 Niagara Square, Room 502, Buffalo, New York 14202)
• TIRES, CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND FILL OUT FOR COLLECTION- Chapter 216-15: The City does not collect these materials as part of the curbside collection services that it provides. Tires, construction debris or fill may not be placed within or next to the tote. There are regularly scheduled tire that the City provides. In addition, construction material may be brought to a variety of transfer stations in and around the City of Buffalo, including the East Side Transfer Station for a fee.
• RECYCLING - Chapter 216-15: Recycling containers that have items that are not recyclable, and garbage totes that have items other than regular household garbage are considered to be improper uses of the containers provided by the City.
• FAILURE TO USE CITY-PROVIDED CONTAINERS - Chapter 216-15: Each property must use totes and recycling containers provided by the City of Buffalo.