Recycle This! (It’s the law)

The materials listed below must be recycled, or disposed of properly, by law.

According to 310 CMR 19.017, the materials listed below are banned from being disposed of in landfills, waste-to-energy facilities and transfer stations in Massachusetts. These materials must be recycled or disposed of properly at your town’s hazardous waste collection facility or by your private hauler.

Other state and federal regulations limit and/or ban the disposal of additional materials at solid waste combustion facilities, landfills and transfer stations.

Examples of these materials include hazardous wastes (as defined in 310 CMR 30), and infectious wastes (as defined in 105 CMR 480).

Multilingual fact sheets
Fact Sheet: What are the Massachusetts Waste Bans? (English, PDF 592.57 KB)

INCLUDES
Asphalt pavement, brick and concrete from construction activities and demolition of buildings, roads and bridges and similar sources are banned from disposal or incineration or transfer for disposal at a solid waste disposal facility

An appliance employing electricity, oil, natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas to preserve or cook food, to wash or dry clothing, cooking or kitchen utensils or related items, or to cool or heat air or water.

INCLUDES
Refrigerators, freezers, dish washers, clothes washers, clothes dryers, gas or electric ovens and ranges, and hot water heaters. (310 CMR 19.006)

INCLUDES
Any intact, broken, or processed glass tube used to provide the visual display in televisions, computer monitors and certain scientific instruments such as oscilloscopes. (310 CMR 19.006)

INCLUDES
Glass bottles and jars

EXCLUDES
Light bulbs, plate glass, ceramics, Pyrex cookware, drinking glasses, windows, and windshields.

INCLUDES
Lead-acid batteries used in motor vehicles or stationary applications.

INCLUDES
Deciduous and coniferous leaves, grass clippings, garden materials, shrub trimmings, and brush up to one inch in diameter.

“Mattress” includes any foundation or box spring, from crib mattresses to California King.
The ban does not include mattress pads, toppers, sleeping bags, pillows, car beds, playpens, lounge pads, crib bumpers, waterbeds, air mattresses, futons or sofa beds.
It also exclude excessively torn, punctured, soiled, moldy, twisted, crushed, broken, wet and frozen items.

INCLUDES
Ferrous and non-ferrous metals derived from used appliances, building materials, industrial equipment, transportation vehicles, and manufacturing processes are banned from disposal or incineration or transfer for disposal at a solid waste disposal facility.

INCLUDES
All paper, cardboard, and paperboard products

EXLCUDES
Tissue paper, toweling, paper plates, cups, and other low-grade paper products which become unusable to paper mills as a result of normal intended use (e.g., office paper, newspapers, unwaxed cardboard and cereal boxes, but not used paper towels).

INCLUDES
All narrow-necked plastic containers of any resin type. In narrow-necked containers the diameter of the opening is smaller than the diameter of the base (e.g., a soda bottle is ‘narrow-necked’, but a yogurt container is not).

Textiles are eminently recyclables, even if they are worn, torn or otherwise damaged. Many entities collect them for reuse and recycling, as they have value.

See here for the list of covered materials.

See here for local outlets.

INCLUDES
Whole car and truck tires of all types. A tire can be landfilled only if it has been shredded or ground into at least four pieces so that it no longer has a circular shape. Combustion facilities and transfer stations can accept whole tires.

Clean (unpainted) gypsum wallboard is banned from disposal or incineration or transfer for disposal at a solid waste disposal facility

Treated and untreated wood, including wood waste is banned from disposal or transfer for disposal at landfills.


 

Comments are closed.