Recycling

Batteries, vaporizers, and electronics should NEVER be placed in recycling carts. Click here to find locations to recycle non-accepted items.

Residential Single-Stream Curbside Recycling

The City’s Solid Waste Division provides a single-stream recycling collection service for single-family and multi-family customers. All residential customers have a 95-gallon blue recycling cart that is picked up every other week on the same day as trash collection. All accepted recyclable materials can be placed in the blue cart. Many items that are not permitted in the blue recyclable carts can still be recycled by different providers in the Lawrence area.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What do I do with shredded paper?

A: Shredded paper is NOT accepted in your blue recycling carts. Shredded paper IS acceptable in MIXED PAPER bins when it is bagged in a strong plastic bag (not the single stream recycling "blue" cans). The shredded paper is too small for the machines at our Material Recovery Facility, leading to jams, machine issues, and contamination of other materials at the plant.

Q: Can I recycle plastic prescription bottles?

A: No, plastic prescription bottles are not accepted in your blue recycling bins. The City's contract with HAMM does not include plastic prescription bottles as they are too small for the machinery at the plant. Do not place these items into your blue cart.

Q: Can I recycle small tuna cans? 

A: Aluminum cans (i.e., tuna, chicken) are not "beverage containers" and therefore are not processed the same way that soda cans are processed. With this, tuna cans can not be placed in your blue recycling cart.

Where Do Our Recycled Materials Go?

Where Do Our Recycled Materials Go?

The items placed in our City of Lawrence blue recycling carts are transported to the Material Recovery Facility, operated by HAMM, where they are then sorted, bundled, and sold to vendors across the world. Check out the video below to see how the HAMM team sort our City recyclables and prepare them for reuse.

View this video on YouTube

2023 Recycling Totals & Annual Report

HAMM produces annual reports detailing the amount of recyclable material sent to their facility, and their final marketing destinations

2023 Infographic Information City Only Info 824x1024

Commercial Customer Recycling

Cardboard Recycling

The City provides cardboard collection for small to medium-sized businesses and schools. Containers are provided free of charge. Call 785-832-3030 for more information.

Please note: The City of Lawrence is currently not accepting new customers at this time.

Commercial Recycling & Construction Waste

Honey Creek Disposal offers single-stream recycling containers to service Lawrence businesses. For service details and to sign up, call 913-369-8999.

Reclaim It accepts a variety of different materials, such as asphalt millings, concrete tear-out, asphalt tear-out, top soil, and clean trees & tree limbs. Learn more about Reclaim It at reclaimitks.com

Ripple Glass now offers a service route in Lawrence. To sign up for service, click here.

Cans for the Community is a non-profit organization which sets up aluminum can recycling bins and provides pickups from Lawrence businesses. Please email  recycle@cansforthecommunity.org  or call 785-331-6599 for more information.

Back to top