Recycling

Contents
Most recyclable materials can be recycled at the curbside by Town of Eagle residents living in single-family or small multi-family housing. Businesses and those living in large housing complexes must use the drop-off center located at the Town of Eagle Public Works Facility at 1050 Chambers Avenue or make special arrangements with one of the local haulers. Additional services for hazardous materials are provided at the Eagle County Landfill. The alphabetical list below shows where different materials can be recycled. Information on recycling other products can be found at Earth 911.

Material
 Recycling location
#1-7 plastic
 Curbside and drop-off center
Aerosol cans and propane cylinders
 Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Aluminum, tin, steel cans
 Curbside and drop-off center
Ammunition and fireworks
Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Batteries
Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Brown paper bags
 Drop-off center
Cooking oil and animal fats
 Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Corrugated cardboard
 Drop-off center
Electronics (e-waste)
 Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Flammable solids and liquids
 Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Fluorescent bulbs and ballasts
 Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Glass (any color)
 Curbside and drop-off center
Hazardous materials
 Eagle County Landfill
Junk mail
 Curbside
Magazines
 Curbside and Eagle Public Library
Motor oil
 Town of Eagle, Public Works, Chambers Ave.
Motor oil and gasoline containers completely clean and dry
 Drop-off center
Newspaper
 Curbside and drop-off center
Office paper
 Curbside and drop-off center
Paint
Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Petroleum and anti-freeze
 Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Phone books
 Curbside and drop-off center
Plastic grocery bags City Market
Pool chemicals
 Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Sharp instruments including syringes
Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Tin ends of frozen juice concentrate
 Drop-off center
Toxic materials
 Eagle County Household Hazardous Waste Facility
Used car batteries


Wal-Mart ($5, 970-949-6442)
Carquest ($4, 970-524-7748)
New battery must be purchased.
Yard waste
 Town of Eagle Waste Water Plant, Violet Lane

What and How to Recycle
Curbside Recycling
Place the materials in the "YES" column in the bins provided by Vail Honeywagon, 3 feet from the trash bin and the curb at 8 am on the day of service. Make sure the materials are secured and will not fly away. Recycling will be picked up on the same day as your trash but every other week. A calendar of service dates and holidays is provided on the Honeywagon website.
Bin #1 - Paper
On windy or rainy days cover the paper.

Yes
  • Newspaper including inserts
  • Phone books
  • Magazines
  • Junk mail
  • Office paper
  • Cereal boxes

No

  • Cardboard
  • Day-glow paper
Bin #2 - Co-mingled Glass, Plastics, & Aluminum
Yes
  • Glass (all colors) - Please remove the lids and rinse the bottles and jars.
  • Aluminum and steel cans - Please rinse and flatten
  • Plastics - Please rinse, remove lids, and flatten large containers
  • # 1-7 plastic is currently accepted
No
  • Ceramics
  • Light bulbs
  • Plate glass
  • Glassware
  • Plastic grocery bags (can be recycled at City Market)
Drop-off Recycling Center at the Town of Eagle Public Works Facility at 1050 Chambers Avenue
Please keep the drop-off location clean and follow posted signs. Do not dump trash!! Do not put materials inside plastic bags.

Commingled Containers
Yes
  • All colors of glass containers and jars
  • Empty aluminum, steel and tin cans
  • Tin ends to frozen juice concentrate
  • Rinsed, empty, #1-7 plastic containers and cups
  • Labels are ok
  • Motor oil or gasoline containers that are completely dry
No
  • Plastic bags (can be recycled at City Market)
  • Toys
  • Six-pack holders
  • Plastic that is not #1-7 (the numbers are written on the container)
  • Lids or caps
  • Windows
  • Pyrex
  • Ceramics
  • Porcelain
  • Drinking glasses
  • Crystal
  • Light bulbs
  • Any glass that is not a bottle or jar

Cardboard
Yes
  • Corrugated (undulating layer between 2 flat layers) cardboard
  • Boxes must be flattened
  • Staples and labels are ok
  • Brown paper bags
No
  • Cereal boxes
  • Six-pack holders
  • Egg cartons
  • Milk cartons
  • Waxy cardboard
  • Styrofoam
  • Plastic
  • Wood packing materials
  • Cardboard with food or grease on it
Newspaper
Yes
  • Complete newspaper with inserts and coupons
  • Newspaper-grade packing paper
  • Newspaper-grade catalogs and magazines
No
  • Plastic bags
  • Office paper
  • Plastic binding straps
  • Glossy magazines or catalogs
  • Phonebooks
Please visit the Eagle Household Hazardous Waste website.

Hours
Materials are accepted from Eagle County residents at the Wolcott Landfill at 815 Ute Creek Road
  • Monday through Friday - 8 a.m. to 4 p.m
  • Saturdays (Residential Only)  - 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Contacts
Materials Accepted as Household Hazardous Waste
  • Ammunition - Class C fireworks and ammunition up to 50 caliber rounds
  • Batteries separated by type - alkaline, lithium, mercury, and nickel cadmium
  • Compressed Gasses - aerosol cans, small propane cylinders, and backyard barbecue propane cylinders
  • Corrosive Materials - household cleaners, battery acids, and muriatic acid. Any material thought to be corrosive will be tested to determine the pH. Acids and bases will be kept separate.
  • Flammable Solids - sodium and aluminum dust
  • Flammable/Combustible Liquids - oil-based paint, petroleum products, gasoline, and diesel
  • Latex (water based) Paint
  • Mercury Thermostats and bulbs
  • Miscellaneous Materials - fluorescent bulbs, polychlorinated-biphenyls (PCB) ballast
  • Motor Oil and Antifreeze - used motor oil, petroleum, and antifreeze
  • Oxidizing Materials - potassium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, and many pool chemicals
  • Poison/Toxic Materials - pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, mercury equipment, or any other liquid or solid that is considered toxic
  • Sharp instruments including, but not limited to, hypodermic syringes and needles, scalpels, razor blades, and lancets.
  • The Eagle County HHW facility will accept sharps. However, sharps will NOT BE HANDLED PHYSICALLY by Eagle County HHW facility staff. There will be a "sharp container" in a designated location in the lab. The staff will provide the container to the resident who will drop their sharps into the container. The sharps container will be closed and then returned to its location.

Precycling: Going Beyond Recycling

Recycling is just 1 step in the proper life cycle of our products. Consumers should consider all steps in the life cycle of the product when making their decision on if and what to buy. Conveniently, the other 4 steps all start with the letter R:
  • Refuse: Being constantly surrounded with advertisement it is easy to fall into an endless consumption pattern. Before buying something, take a minute (or the recommended 30 days for large purchases) and decide if you really need the item. To not have to worry about how to dispose of a product consider not buying it in the first place. Try to avoid single use items. Also consider investing in products that can be recycled, are made locally, and are environmentally friendly.
  • Reduce: For the products that you do need, find ways to use less of them. The most obvious practices include running the dishwasher and laundry machines only when they are full in order to minimize your use of detergent, water, and energy as well as reducing the amount of paper you go through by printing less and using both sides of the paper.
  • Reuse: Like the first 2 Rs, reusing is not only good for the environment, but can also save you money. Using old clothes for rags is the easiest example. Reusing a coffee can as a flower pot is more imaginative. See how creative you can get.
  • Recycle: This is one of the most common and easiest environmental practices with significant benefits (see below). Nevertheless, Colorado recycles only 10% of its waste, while Iowa and Oregon are at 32% and 36% respectively. Let's catch up! The above list of recyclable materials provides information on where and what can be recycled.
  • Re-buy: By buying recycled goods you close the loop in the life cycle. Pick products with the recycling logo and the highest percentage of 'post-consumer content' in the packaging. Office and toilet paper, packing materials, aluminum cans, tissues, and plastic bottles are all commonly made of recycled materials. Also, shop at garage sales, thrift stores, and sites such as Craigslist.
Benefits of Recycling
If you still need to be convinced that recycling is the right thing to do, please consider that every ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees, and for every ton of steel recycled, 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone are conserved.

In addition, recycling reduces the amount of material that is deposited into our not bottomless landfill. This not only leaves more room for real trash, but also reduces the amount of greenhouse (global warming) gasses, such as CO2 and methane, that are emitted by the landfill.

Another important benefit is that recycling takes less energy than land-filling. Energy saved from recycling 1 glass bottle can light a light bulb for 4 hours. So recycling also reduces our dependence on foreign oil. Finally, over a million jobs in the United States are in recycling, making recycling not just an important environmental habit, but also a positive economic decision.

More information can be obtained from the National Recycling Coalition or Environmental Protection Agency.