Listed below are many household items and great local options for where to recycle them. Businesses and charities listed in these links are for INFORMATION ONLY and do not constitute an endorsement.

A – C

Acetylene torches

Acaetylene, or welding, torches contain a highly flammable gas. Some may contain asbestos.

If the name of the supplier is on the tank, bring it there.

If not, bring to:

Total Welding Supply
201 Montello St.
Brockton
800-886-9321

Praxair Direct
115 Millenium Circle
Lakeville
(508) 946-8901

Best Buy accepts up to 3 of the following per day: electronics and peripherals, televisions up to 32", VCR and DVD players, phones, cords, vacuums, fans, select other electric items, and remotes at no charge. Some items have a fee. (Check their site to make sure this list is current).

Lowes accepts appliances for recycling with purchase of new appliance

Staples accepts certain small appliances including coffee brewers, label makers, printers and shredders.

Anything Metal Removal Services
(free pick up Hanover and north; fee for Freon removal)
781-385-1404

Atlantic Metal Recycling
1282 Main Street (Rte. 27) - Hanson
781-293-2463

Desac Disposal Recycle and Transfer Station
106 Essex Street - Whitman
781-447-0137

Excel Recycling
37 Charlotte White Road - Westport
508-636-2780

Mid City Scrap
548 State Road - Westport
774-319-5420

Spiegel South Shore Scrap
212 N Cary Street - Brockton
508-897-0008

EverSource and National Gridsponsor a refrigerator/freezer recycling rebate program through MassSave for residential customers.

Asbestos

Found in many homes, asbestos is toxic. It has 2 forms: friable and nonfriable.

Friable Asbestos: materials containing friable asbestos crumble by hand pressure when dry, and may be found in old pipe insulation and "popcorn" ceilings. It should be removed and disposed by an asbestos abatement professional only. If it has already been removed, small quantities (up to a garbage bag) may be wetted, double bagged and brought to an HHW collection.

Larger quantities should be brought to:
Waste Management's Turnkey Landfill
Rochester NH
603-330-2197 x0

Nonfriable asbestos, found in such materials as roofing, siding and flooring, should be handled by a demolition contractor or brought to:
Waste Management's Turnkey Landfill
Rochester NH
603-330-2197 x0

Automotive fluids

Motor and fuel oil (free of water, gasoline and other contaminants) and antifreeze are accepted by many towns at their Highway Garages or transfer stations. Click under the TOWN PROGRAMS to see if yours does.

Advance Auto Parts stores accept motor oil, transmission fluid, hydraulic oil, gear oil, power steering fluid and used vehicle batteries .

AutoZone stores accept used vehicle batteries and most of their stores accept used motor oil and other fluids.

Spoiled gasoline is flammable, and must be brought to a hazardous waste collection event. Disposal at HHW collections can cost your municipality more than you paid for it. Try to buy just what you need, and use fluids up. If treated with sea foam or other gas stabilizer, gasoline can last a year or more.

If used antifreeze is not accepted by your town, store it securely so pets and children cannot access it, and bring it to a hazardous waste collection event.

Batteries: Alkaline, Lithium, Rechargeable, Button, Automotive

Staples accepts all small battery types for recycling

Alkaline Batteries

Single use Alkaline and Carbon-Zinc Batteries (AAA, AA, C, D, 6V, 9V) are wasteful, but not hazardous. Dispose with trash. If your trash goes to ReWorld SEMASS, much of the metal is recovered.

All non-alkaline batteries contain hazardous and/or valuable materials.

Since it takes about 50 times more energy to make a battery than you get out of it, it is better to use Rechargeable Batteries as many times as possible.

Rechargeable batteries:

Lithium Ion (Li-ion) - Seal spent batteries in a dry plastic bag. These may cause a fire if disposed loose.

Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd),

Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH)

Nickel Zinc (Ni-Zn)

Small Sealed Lead** (Pb)

Call2Recycle provides the collection boxes at many retail and municipal locations for batteries commonly found in cordless power tools, phones, laptop computers, digital cameras, and remote control toys. Find locations near you here.

Your town may have also a Call2Recycle collection box at its transfer station or recycling center, or accept them with their electronics collection.

Button Batteries

Most small, round batteries found in items such as watches and hearing aids contain mercury, silver, cadmium, lithium, or other heavy metals.

If the store where you bought them doesn't accept them for recycling, bring them to a Hazardous Waste Collection Event.

Automotive Batteries

Automotive and Small Sealed Lead batteries are banned from disposal due to their lead content, and may have some scrap value.

Many municipal transfer stations and recycling centers accept automotive batteries for recycling.

Scrap metal dealers usually pay a few dollars for them if delivered to their facility.

Advance Auto Parts, Auto Zone, and many service stations accept auto batteries.

Boat Shrink Wrap

All non-wrap material must be removed, as it jams up the processors' equipment. The wrap is recycled into agricultural and construction films, composite decking, guard rail mounting blocks, etc.

Many local marinas provide bags and a collection area for shrink wrap recycling for a nominal fee.

NE Shrink Wrap removes and recycles shrink wrap from boats and other items for its customers

Bourne ISWMF at 201 MacArthur Blvd. accepts clean wrap from non-residents at no charge. ALL non-wrap material must be removed. Call ahead to make sure they are accepting material 508-759-0651
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Saturday 7 AM - Noon

Free Shrink Wrap Recycling Program
by the Woods Hole Sea Grant
in collaboration with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension

APRIL 16th - JUNE 30th
(while space lasts)

Boat owners can bring their bundled shrink wrap to one
of three Cape Cod locations to be recycled. For recycling locations and times and for instructions on how to prepare shrink wrap for recycling, please see Woods Hole Sea Grant

Books & Videos

COLLECTION CONTAINER LOCATIONS

Books, undamaged used CDs, DVDs, tapes, records, sports cards and comic books. Host town or organization receives a weight based rebate.

Abington Abington Town Hall 500 Gliniewicz WayNorma Kent Pastoral Counseling Center 10 Bedford Street	Kingston Kingston Transfer Station, Cranberry Rd. M Noon–7:45PM; TWSS 8AM-3:45PM Residents onlyKingston Elememtary School, 150 Main St.
Duxbury Duxbury Transfer Station, Mayflower St. Wed-Sun, 8AM-4PM Residents onlyDuxbury Student Union, 147 St. George St.	Plymouth Manomet Transfer Station Tu, Th, Sat, Sun 8AM-4PM Residents only
Hanover Hanover Transfer Station 118 Rockland St Fri-Tues, 8AM-4:30PM Residents only	Rockland Rockland Recycling Center Beech St Tues-Sat 8:30AM-3PM Residents only
Hanson Hanson Transfer Station, 201 Franklin St. residents only First Baptist Church, 214 Main St. First Congregational Church 639 High St	Scituate Scituate Transfer Station, 280 Driftway St Fri -Tues 8:00-3:30 Residents onlyChrist Lutheran Church 460 Cushing Highway
Hingham Hingham,Transfer Station, Hobart Street, Thurs-Sun: 7AM-4PM Residents only First Baptist Church of Hingham 85 Main St (6 foot gray container)	Weymouth Weymouth DPW, 120 Winter St. Mon-Fri, 8:30-4:30 Residents onlyTufts Library, 46 Broad Street (8 foot gray container)
Hull Lillian Jacobs Elementary School 180 Harborview Road

Bottles and Cans - Redeemable

As of February 2022, carbonated beverage, beer and malt liquor containers each carry a refundable deposit of 5¢.
All sellers of such beverages must accept containers of brands they sell back for full deposit refund.
Temple Liquors, 42 Temple St., Whitman accepts all redeemable containers in bulk for refund. Bring in bags or boxes.

Brita Pitcher Filters

Brita® pitcher filters are accepted at many Whole Foods locations for recycling, including the ones in Hingham and Weymouth.

Some of these programs have been curtailed or moved to Customer Service. A fresh list of locations will be available sometime in 2019.

Preserve (aka Recycline), based in Massachusetts, transforms these, as well as Stonyfield Yogurt containers and other clean #5 (polypropylene) plastics into toothbrushes, plates, cutting boards, etc.

Branches and Brush

Burning brush requires a fire permit, can be dangerous, and emits harmful pollutants.

If your town does not pick up or accept brush, you can chip it yourself, or bring it to:

Bridgewater Farm, 1000 Plymouth St., Bridgewater 508-697-0357
$10/cubic yard, or 50c/paper bag (no plastic), $1/trash barrel, $2/landscaper barrel. Can also take clean wood, NO nails, paint, stain or other treatment. Cut to 6'. Stumps $20/CY. Open year roumd during store hours. They also accept Christmas trees,
Yard waste must be free of rocks, plastic, metal and all other non-plant material.

Smith and Sons, 887 Plain St. (Rt. 139), Marshfield, 781-294-1230
$20/pickup truck load. May be prorated for smaller quantities. No bags or non-plant material.

Car Seats

Car seats are difficult to recycle, due to the many different materials that are stuck together.
Charities and thrift stores are prohibited by law from accepting used cars seats for donation.

Target runs an annual car seat recycling program, in April.

If you have the will, time and patience, deconstructing it is worth the effort.

- discard soft plastic padding and small plastic pieces in the trash
- place cloth straps and any other cloth parts in a textile donation bin
- remove metal parts and place in a scrap metal bin (not with your curbside cans and bottles)
- the plastic shell may be recycled with large rigid plastics, which are collected at annual Recycling Days by some towns, and year round at the Cohasset, Hingham and Kingston Transfer Stations, and the Braintree and Rockland Recycling Centers.

Cardboard Moving Boxes

Reuse is always best, but cardboard moving boxes may also be flattened and recycled through your municipal recycling program. Remove all non-paper packing material.

U-Haul offers the Customer Connect service to help its customers sell, give away, or find boxes and moving supplies.

Moving boxes and packing supplies are also readily traded on local community exchange networks including Craigslist and Freecycle. These are also great resources for purging as you prepare to move.

Carpet

Conigliaro Industries
Removes, transports or accepts used carpet and many other materials for drop off at:
701 Waverly St. - Framingham
888-266-4225

Small rugs may be recycled with textiles.

Small sections of carpet may be disposed with regular trash. Pieces too large to fit in a cart go in bulky or construction waste. Check with your town's program, or the Construction Materials page.

CDs, DVDs, LPs, Cases, Tapes, Microfilm

These items are NOT recyclable with your bottles and cans. Tapes cause terrible tangling problems at the sorting facilities. CDs, DVDs and cases are not the kind of plastic they can sort and sell, and will be landfilled or mis-sorted.

Salvation Army and Savers accept commercial CDs, DVDs, vinyl LPs and audio books in their original cases. Please, no taped, burned, or home recorded media.

For noncommercial (taped, burned, or home recorded) CDs, DVDs and cases, mail to:

CD Recycling Center of America
68H Stiles Road
Salem, NH 03079

GreenDisk accepts electronics and electronic media "technotrash", including difficult to recycle VHS tapes and microfilm, for a fee.

Vinyl records can also be made into party bowls.

Otherwise, these items go in the trash.

Cell and Mobile Phones

Many retailers (including Home Depot, Lowes, Staples, and Target), schools, police departments, and municipal transfer stations collect unwanted cell phones for profit or for people in need.

Verizon Wireless HopeLine refurbishes and distributes cell phones dropped off at store locations to domestic violence programs including Jane Doe, Inc. Phones that can’t be refurbished are sold for parts, and the money is donated to domestic violence programs like JDI.

Cell Phones for Soldiers is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing cost-free communication services to active duty military members and veterans

Clothing, Textiles

All used clothing, shoes, belts, purses, and household 'softwear' are too good for the trash!

Donate used clothing, shoes, bags and household items at donation bins (even ripped, worn or stained) or thrift shops.

Local donation bins provide generous rebates to your town or school from recycled textiles. Items must be odor-free and dry.

Donation bins located in parking lots and gas stations put materials collected to their highest practical use. They may or may not support a charitable organization through per-pound payments, but all keep valuable material out of the trash.

Charities and thrift shops accept donations of usable clothing, and possibly other household items

Consignment shops may accept high quality items in very good condition, and share a pre-arranged percent of the sale price with you

A list of materials that will be reused or recycled by donation bins, all which must be clean and dry.

Learn about textile recycling in Massachusetts: "Holey Socks, Those go in the Donation Box!"

See photos of what Millbury Textile Recycling does with unsaleable used clothing and household linens.

Watch the 3 minute video, All About Textile Recycling

SCHOOLS AND TOWNS
Schools and towns that host a Bay State Textile or Helpsy (fka RecycleThat) bin receive a rebate for every pound of textiles collected.

Abington all public schools, library
Cohasset Transfer Station
Duxbury Transfer Station
Hanover Transfer Station, all public schools
Hanson Transfer Station
Hingham Transfer Station
Hull Public Schools
Kingston Transfer Station; all public schools, including Silver Lake
Middleboro landfill, public schools
Norwell outside Recycling Center - 310 Main St. (Rt. 123)
Plymouth Public Schools (all)
Plymouth Transfer Station - exit 5
Rockland Recycling Center - Beech St. - Esten School
Scituate Transfer Station
Weymouth DPW - 120 Winter St.
Weymouth Schools - most public schools
Whitman DPW - 100 Essex St.

CHARITIES AND THRIFT SHOPS

Morgan Memorial/Goodwill and Salvation Army support their good work through clothing and household items sales in their thrift shops and other outlets. Donations are tax deductible.

Salvation Army Thrift Shop, 936 Washington St, Hanover, 781.826.5686

Savers, a national thrift shop chain with locations in Hanover, Plymouth , Norwood and West Roxbury, shares a portion of proceeds from clothing sales with a designated charitable organization. They also accept household items.

Duxbury Thrift and Consignment
48 Depot St. - Duxbury
781-934-9014

CONSIGNMENT SHOPS

Kids Echo
166 County Street - Lakeville
508-947-4114

The Children's Clothesline
405 Washington St. - Hanover

Off the Rack
39 Washington St. (Rt 53) - Norwell
781-878-3555

Twice as Nice
46 Columbia Rd. (Rt 53)
Pembroke
781-829-4403

Kids Closet
46 Columbia Rd. (Rt 53) - Pembroke
781-829-9970

Style Unlimited
62 Court St. - Plymouth
508.927.4955

Resale Therapy Designer Consignment
106 Pleasant St., Columbian Sq. - Weymouth
781.331.8885

If you know a good consignment or thrift shop that isn't on the list, please contact Claire

Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detectors

Carbon monoxide and smoke detectors may be disposed in the trash.

Older ionization smoke detectors containing the the very weak radioactive isotope Americium-241 are not considered hazardous. Go to smoke detectors at MassDEP site.

Many brand owners will accept them back if you mail them.

Newer smoke detectors, as well as carbon monoxide detectors, are photoelectric, and have no radioactive components. They may be recycled with electronics.

If a detector contain a non-alkaline battery, the battery must be removed and recycled properly.

Detectors are not made in a way that can be easily deconstructed to their components, which is necessary for recycling any product. Curie Pack's website says they will deconstruct and recycle smoke detectors for $11 each if you mail them in.

Coat Hangers

Coat and clothing hangers are NOT recyclable with your bottles and cans. The wire damages the

sorting equipment, and the plastics are not the types accepted (rigid containers). However, most coat hangers can be reused or recycled elsewhere. Most dry cleaners will take back wire hangers for reuse. Please remove paper and foam. Some thrift stores will accept plastic and wooden hangers for use or sale. When purchasing clothing, decline to take the hangers with them; the store may reuse them.

For more information visit Recycle Nation

Compost Bins

Check out our Compost page for all things composting

Compressed Gas Tanks

Propane tank retailers take back refillable 20# tanks.

Many of our Member Towns accept propane tanks at their transfer stations and recycling centers. Keep valve closed: propane is heavier than air. An 'empty' tank will have some residual gas that can be recovered by the propane tank processor.

1 lb. propane tanks can be refilled from a larger tank with a propane tank refill adaptor.

If a 1 lb. tank is EMPTY, remove the valve and place in trash or bring to a scrap metal dealer.

Helium and CO₂ are chemically inert, so the valves of unwanted tanks should be opened to relieve the pressure. If your town accepts scrap metal, helium and CO₂ tanks may be brought to your town's scrap metal bin, or to a scrap metal dealer.

Propane, ethylene, oxygen and other pressurized flammable gas cylinders are generally not accepted with scrap metal or at haz waste collections. Contact your local fire department for instructions on their proper disposal.

Construction Materials, Bulky Waste

Usable building materials, kitchen and bath fixtures, flooring, windows, doors, lighting, etc. may be bought from, sold or consigned to:

Architectural Salvage of the South Shore (Facebook group)

New England Demolition and Salvage
73 Cove St. - New Bedford
508-992-1099

Builders Surplus and Sports Consignments
708 Washington St. - Pembroke
781 829-6774.
Open Monday - Saturday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sunday 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

DONATE TO:

Habitat for Humanity ReStores in West Roxbury, Carver, and other Mass. locations

Boston Building Materials Resource Center in Roxbury (pickup available for a fee)

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS, YARD WASTE, ABC, METAL, TIRES, WHITE GOODS, FURNITURE, BULKY WASTE, DUMPSTER SERVICE (no asbestos)

Desac Disposal Recycle and Transfer Station
106 Essex St. - Whitman
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Saturday 7:00 AM - Noon
$75 minimum, $75/cubic yard (2020)
Railroad ties $8 each up to 8 feet
781-447-0137

New England Recycling
569 Winthrop St. - Taunton
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Saturday 7:00 AM - Noon
508-822-4345

RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION DEBRIS, FURNITURE, BULKY WASTE AND DUMPSTER SERVICE (no railroad ties, asbestos)

Trojan Recycling
71 Forest St. - Brockton
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Saturday 7:00 AM - Noon
Fees Apply
508-588-2332

Republic Waste
257 Ivory St. - Braintree (transfer station at old landfill)
Saturday 7:00 AM-1:30 PM
$125/ton, minimum charge $100 (2013)
781-843-6209

Republic Waste Transfer Station
250 Beaver Dam Rd. - Plymouth
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
$8/100 lbs. (2013)
508-224-8936

Bourne ISWMF
201 MacArthur Bvd. - Bourne
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM, Saturday 7:00 AM - noon
$87.50/ton (2015)
508-759-0651

Waste Management sells the 'Bagster' at Home Depot. They hold 3 cubic yards of material.
Call for a pickup when it is full.

C&D plus RAILROAD TIES, ASBESTOS

Waste Management's Turnkey Landfill
Rochester NH
603-330-2197 x0
Minimum charge $185 for first 1.5 tons.

ASPHALT, BRICK, CONCRETE, GRAVEL, ROCKS

JGB Aggregate
147 Claypit Rd., Marshfield
781-834-0200
info@jgbaggregates.com

Cooking Oil

Fats, oil and grease should NEVER be put down the drain. It is not tolerated well in backyard compost either. FOG clogs up both systems.

Hingham, Norwell and Weymouth accept used cooking oil at their recycling centers. It is converted to biofuel for heating and diesel vehicle use.

You can convert FOG to biodiesel fuel at home too. Alternatively, conversion kits are available to enable your vehicle to run on straight vegetable oil (SVO). Do your homework before attempting either of these projects.

Other than that, FOG should be sealed up or absorbed and disposed with the trash. If it goes to SEMASS, at least it is burned to produce fossil-fuel free electricity.

CPAP machines

If your machine still works, you can sell or donate to:

American Sleep Apnea Association
Reggie White Sleep Disorders Research Foundation
Second Wind CPAP

(DISCLAIMER: This is not an endorsement of any of those organizations)

If it isn't in good working condition, it can be recycled with electronics.

D – L

Driveway Sealer

The solvents in oil based driveway sealer are hazardous. Please use it up if possible. If unused liquid remains, bring to a HHW collection.

Latex driveway sealer is not hazardous, just messy. Please use it up if possible. Keep from freezing to reuse later. To dispose, Latex-ite recommends "draining off the excess water on the top and leaving the pail open / outside so it can harden/dry. You can then dispose with the trash, as it is non-hazardous." Alternatively, mix in kitty litter or Latex Paint Hardener to absorb excess liquid.

Durable Medical Equipment

Many Senior Centers/ Councils on Aging accept usable medical equipment donations.

Scituate Etrusco Associates
Scituate Estrusco Associates provides loans of gently used durable medical equipment such as manual wheelchairs, walkers, canes, tub seats for use by residents of Scituate, Hull, Hanover, Hingham, Cohasset, Marshfield, Norwell, Duxbury, Pembroke and Kingston. Do accept hospital beds but not power wheelchairs.

Contact:
1 Common Street - Scituate
781-545-4411
Hours:
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

REquipment, a program of the Mass. Rehabilitation Commission, accepts gently-used durable medical equipment that is less than 5-6 years old. AS of Sept. 2017, they were accepting power and manual wheelchairs, scooters, sling lifts, portable ramps, tub/shower chairs, rollator walkers, adapted strollers, standers and gait trainers, and specialty cushions/mattresses. Equipment should be in good condition or easily repaired. Exceptions may be made with regard to the age or condition of the equipment if it is in high demand, of high-value or unusual to access.

REquipment does not accept hospital beds, built-in-place ramps or stair lifts, braces, CPAP or other medical machines.

Download their Guide to DME Reuse Resources (WORD) for other donation options. Or browse Other Loan/Reuse Options (a MassMATCH webpage).

Electronics: TVs, Computers, other devices

Most of our Member towns have collection programs for TVs and electronics. Most charge fees for TVs and monitors to cover the cost associated with proper management. See Town Programs.

World Computer Exchange accepts working computers and peripherals for donation at its collection point in Hull. They test and ship working computers to developing countries for use in schools.

Dignitunity shows all organizations accepting donations of working equipment by zip code.

Computers4People Refurbishes donated computers and equipment, and distributes to nonprofits and individuals who can't afford them. The volunteer organization accepts cash donations too.

Best Buy will recycle up to 3 units per day of residential desktop and laptop computers and notebooks, small electronics, VCR and DVD players, phones, keyboards, mice, cords, vacuums, fans, select other electric items, and remotes at no charge. Some items have trade-in value. There is a charge to recycle all TVs and computer monitors.

Dell will exchange many electronics, including PCs, mobile phones, digital cameral and MP3 players, for Dell Gift Cards in a mail in program. Dell has a "no export" policy for end of life electronics.

Lenovo operates both a take-back and a buy back program for hardware and supplies, including PCs, monitors, printers, digital cameras, personal digital assistants and smart phones of any brand cartridges through the mail. Click here, enter the product info and see if it has value.

Office Depot gives gift cards in Technology Trade-In program on many non-CRT electronics (stores in Hanover and Plymouth).

PC Trading, 58 Washington St. East Bridgewater accepts all electronics Mon-Fri, 8-4. Pickup is also available. There is a fee for most TVs and CRT monitors. Call ahead 508-690-2100.

Staples stores accept all brands of computers, monitors, laptops, printers, faxes, all-in-ones, peripherals, ink and toner cartridges, and other items for recycling at no charge. (There are stores in Weymouth, Pembroke and Plymouth).

Other options: Beyond the Bin Recycling Directory

Fats, Oil, Grease

Fats, oil and grease should NEVER be put down the drain. It is not tolerated well in backyard compost either. FOG clogs up both systems.

Hingham, Norwell and Weymouth accept used cooking oil at their recycling centers. It is converted to biofuel for heating and diesel vehicle use.

Other than that, FOG should be sealed up or absorbed and disposed with the trash. If it goes to SEMASS, at least it is burned to produce fossil-fuel free electricity.

Fiberglass

Although it is made of glass, there are no recycling outlets for either batting (insulation) or solid fiberglass in the region. Unfortunately, it must be dosposed as construction waste. Boats and other large solid items should be cut up into manageable pieces.

Fire Extinguishers

Some of our Towns accept these with propane tanks.

There are several types of fire extinguishers, some which contain hazardous chemicals. The following companies can recharge, test and properly dispose of fire extinguishers:

Gorham Fire Appliance Company
288 Willard St. - Quincy
617-472-5785

R E Lyons and Sons Fire Equipment
197 VFW Dr. - Rockland
781-878-7599

If you have a red tank containing CO2 (carbon dioxide), you may discharge it outdoors, unscrew and remove the head or drill a hole in the cylinder, and recycle with scrap metal.

Flares

Flares contain perchlorates, which are toxic to aquatic life; NEVER allow to leach into groundwater, sewer or any body of water.

Flares are flammable; NEVER dispose of flares in household trash.

For road flares, call the MassDOT Highway Division district office nearest you (Weymouth, all other SSRC towns) to see if they may be able to use them on any upcoming roadwork projects.

Donate expired flares to your Fire Department, local Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla or Power Squadrons to see if they can use them in training classes.

Ignite hand-held signals flares vertically on land in a safe, unpaved area, as highway flares would be ignited.

Retain flares for back-up use to expand signaling time in the event of an emergency.

Do not light boat flares without permission from the Coast Guard (781-340-1373), as it is a federal offense to call a false emergency.

Fluorescent Tubes

Standard (non-LED) fluorescent tubes, including those with the green tips, contain small amounts of mercury, and may not be disposed in the trash.

Batteries and Bulbs in Hanover accepts fluorescent tubes for recycling for a small fee.

Most of our municipalities accept fluorescent tubes and other mercury containing items from residents. See your town's page under the Town Programs tab.

See also compact fluorescent bulbs on this page.

Foam Packing Material

Foam materials make a mess in the sorting facilities (as do plastic bags), so are not recyclable with your bottles and containers. Only rigid containers are acceptable in that stream.

Many pack-and-ship stores (UPS, Kinkos, FedEx, etc.) accept expanded polystyrene (EPS) 'peanuts' and other packing materials for reuse.

Insulation Technology, Inc, 35 1st St, Bridgewater, serves as a collection point for EPS. Leave clean, bagged material in their foyer any time. They accept:

#6 EPS Foam
White packing foam (recycling symbol is not required)
Colored packing foam (recycling symbol is not required)
Foam used with food and beverage items (recycling symbols #4,5, or 6 IS required)

When choosing packing material, bubble wrap is more easily recycled (with plastic bags) and reused.

Food Waste

The average US household wastes about $2000/year on discarded food.¹More than 17% of the material we throw away on the South Shore is food.²Much of this waste can be avoided by:

Planning shopping trips and parties with less food waste at Save the Food

'Sell by', 'best by' and 'freshest if used by' dates are arbitrary, have no bearing on food safety, and result in unnecessary waste. Trust your eyes and nose. See USDA Food Product Dating
Organizations can take the EPA/USDA Food Recovery Challenge

Curbside food waste collection service is provided by the following companies:

Bootstrap Compost in Boston.
Residential, office, restaurant service. $11/week or $15/biweekly pickup. Swap out 5 gallon pails.
Operating in the northern part of our service area as of 2/21.

Black Earth Compost in Gloucester
Residential and commercial service. Pricing based on route density.
Provide rodent proof buckets. Also accept yard waste, textiles.

Both companies bring your leftovers, including meat, dairy and napkins, to a farm for composting, and bring customers finished compost.

Backyard composting can put about half a ton/year of food and other organic waste to good use. It sequesters carbon and transforms your leftover plant-based foods, paper towels, leaves and yard waste into nutritious soil. Your trash will be sweeter smelling, and you will have your own rich fertilizer for your lawn, garden and houseplants. See our compost page for more composting information.

Obtain a low cost, rodent free compost bin

You can also build your own enclosure, or purchase one from a home and garden supply store.

VIDEO: Composting 101-Making compost in bins and piles - Grow Organic - 4/7/2011

¹NRDC report "Wasted: How America is losing up to 40% of its food" page 12

Furniture, Household Goods

Furniture in excellent condition may be consigned at:

Elite Repeat
700 Washington St. (Rt. 53) - Hanover
781-826-6888

Charitable organizations will pick up or accept on site useful and usable furniture and household items for resale to support their missions , including:

Big Brother and Big Sister Foundation
Donates up to 100% of net profits from the sale of donated items to mentoring organizations
800-483-5503
pickup and drop off

Habitat for Humanity ReStores
Sell new and gently used furniture, home accessories, building materials, and appliances at a fraction of the retail price. Proceeds are used to build homes, community, and hope locally and around the world. West Roxbury, Carver (drop off)

Savers
Donates a portion of profits to designated charities.
Hanover, Plymouth, Norwood and West Roxbury (drop off)

The Wish Project
Provides furniture to families moving out of homeless shelters
(978) 375-3572 (pick up)

Craiglist
List useful items for free, they will be gone from your driveway in short order.
List for a cost, you might get lucky.

Other options: Beyond the Bin Recycling Directory

If not good enough for reuse, see construction and bulky waste.

Gasoline

Spoiled gasoline is flammable, and must be brought to a hazardous waste collection event. Disposal at HHW collections can cost your municipality more than you paid for it. Try to buy just what you need, and use fluids up. If treated with Sea Foam or other gas stabilizer, gasoline can last a year or more.

Motor and fuel oil (free of water, gasoline and other contaminants) and antifreeze are accepted by many towns at their Highway Garages or transfer stations. Click under the Towns Programs to see if yours does.

Advance Auto Parts stores accept motor oil, transmission fluid, hydraulic oil, gear oil, power steering fluid and used vehicle batteries.

AutoZone stores accept used vehicle batteries and most of their stores accept used motor oil and other fluids.

If used antifreeze is not accepted by your town, store it securely so pets and children cannot access it, and bring it to a hazardous waste collection event.

Greeting Cards

Greeting cards, envelopes and gift wrap that are free of metallic foil and other non-paper elements may be recycled with paper. (Foil causes holes in the finished recycled product.)

St. Jude's Ranch for Children accepts the fronts of used cards to create new holiday and all-occasion greeting cards. Repurposed cards are sold to support their programs and services for abused, neglected and homeless children, young adults and families.

Holiday Lights

Strings of lights and other tanglers should not be recycled with containers or single stream recycling. They tangle the sorting equipment. Only bottles, cans and rigid containers go in the bin or cart.

Our electronics recyclers will accept holiday lights for recycling, as will Best Buy. Please remove large bulbs greater than 1". They also take power cords, speaker wire, and peripheral connectors.

Christmas Light Source uses proceeds from recycling used holiday lights to donate books to Toys for Tots.

Holiday lights can be sent to HolidayLEDs.com in exchange for a coupon for new energy efficient LED holiday lights during their seasonal holiday light recycling program.

Holiday Wrappings and Trimmings

Gift wrap may only be recycled with paper IF:

it isn't too thin (the short fibers can't be incorporated into new paper)
is doesn't have any metallic or plastic coatings
it doesn't have any ribbons or bows (they tangle in the equipment)

Better alternatives include old calendars, maps, packing paper (you can personalize it with your art), and reusable gift bags. Cloth napkins and towels double as wrapping and gift.

Tissue paper: put in trash or compost- fibers are too short to make new paper.

Ribbons and bows: reuse or put in trash. They cannot be recycled. Try reusable cloth ribbon, or string.

Boxes: remove all non-paper packing material (foam, peanuts, bubble wrap, plastic bags, plastic handles), flatten and recycle with cardboard. Removing packing tape is helpful but not necessary. See "Foam Packing Material" and "Plastic Film, Bags and Wrap" for more information.

Tinsel, garland and string lights: Remove from your tree before putting on curb or bringing to brush pile. They create huge problems for the chippers. Reuse, or put tinsel and garland in trash.

String lights: see "Holiday Lights"

Home Medical Waste

Do not flush or put prescription medicine down the drain.

Antibiotics kill beneficial microbes in septic and wastewater treatment systems. Other medications, even at very low concentrations, may have serious detrimental effects on fish, other aquatic life, and drinking water.

The Police Departments in our Member Towns have kiosks for unwanted medications at their main stations, open 24/7, no question asked.

Walgreen's 24 hour pharmacies in Quincy, Randolph and Stoughton host Safe Medication Disposal kiosks.

Alternatively, and for non prescription medications:

FOR PILLS: crush and pour powder into secure container and put in trash.
FOR LIQUIDS: pour into a rigid container with inedible material like cat litter, coffee grounds or dirt and seal.

Empty prescription pill containers are too small to be sorted properly in single stream recycling (less than 3 oz). Bring to a "Gimme 5" container at Whole Foods or dispose with trash.

Household Trash and Recycling

You may opt out of your town's trash service and hire your own waste hauler. Private haulers (and others) provide private trash and recycling pickup at your home and business, as well as dumpster service.

Haulers should provide both trash and recycling service to comply with state law. The towns of Cohasset, Hanson, Kingston and Plymouth require that both services be included at one price.

Contact your town's Board of Health for a full list of permitted waste haulers in your town.

Ask your hauler about yard and food waste collection.
Photo includes kitchen scrap bucket and curbside organics cart, available in some locations

Inhalers

Empty inhalers can go in in the trash. The propellant is flammable, so should not be disposed if not empty.

If there is still medication or propellant in it, bring back to pharmacy. Do not put in a sharps or medication kiosk due to flammability. Walgreens medication kiosk in Weymouth does accept inhalers.

Junk Removal

For general cleanouts, these companies handle many of the listed items and more, and recycle/reuse to the max:

"Buy Nothing" groups promote hyper-local giving and receiving for all manner of materials.
As of Nov., 2018, Duxbury, Hingham, Middleborough, Plymouth and Weymouth had chapters.

Craigslist listing items for free is an easy and free way to pass along unwanted items. You can also sell items.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - Pembroke 781-308-4447

Freecycle also hosts local online swaps. Half of our SSRC towns have groups.

1-800-GOT-JUNK

Leaves & Yard Waste

Most towns operate or contract with a compost site for residents' leaves and yard waste. A few pick it up on certain weeks.

Alternatively, you can compost it in your own yard. If not mixed with food waste, an enclosed container is not necessary for this natural process.

To speed up and optimize the process:

put leaves through a leaf chipper or mulching lawn mower - this will reduce the volume
add grass clippings
keep it damp
turn it occasionally to aerate

If you just want it to go away, bring it to:

Bridgewater Farm 1000 Plymouth St., Bridgewater 508-697-0357
$10/cubic yard, or 50c/paper bag (no plastic), $1/trash barrel, $2/landscaper barrel. Can also take clean wood, NO nails, paint, stain or other treatment. Cut to 6'. Stumps $20/CY. Open year roumd during store hours. They also accept Christmas trees,
Yard waste must be free of rocks, plastic, metal and all other non-plant material.

Smith and Sons, 887 Plain St. (Rt. 139), Marshfield, 781-294-1230

$20/pickup truck load. May be prorated for smaller quantities. No bags or non-plant material.

Latex Paint

See our Paint page on this site.

M – R

Mattresses

Upholstered furniture and mattresses, free of rips, stains and bugs, may be donated to:

Salvation Army
Drop off at 1-800-SA-TRUCK
For free pickup use their online pickup form or call.

The Wish Project
Provides furniture to families moving out of homeless shelters
978-375-3572

If not in good enough condition to donate, Your town may collect or accept it (usually for a fee).

HandUp Mattress Recycling collects about monthly from most of our towns for $50/unit (as of 6/2023). Schedule a pickup

Green Mattress in Brockton, and Green Team Junk Removal also pick up mattresses.

Media - CDs, DVDs, LPs, Cases, Tapes, Microfilm

Salvation Army and Savers accept commercial CDs, DVDs, vinyl LPs and audio books in their original cases. Please, no taped, burned, or home recorded media.

GreenDisk accepts electronics and electronic media "technotrash", including difficult to recycle VHS tapes and microfilm, for a fee.

Vinyl records can also be made into party bowls.

Otherwise, these items go in the trash.

Medical Equipment (Durable)

Many Senior Centers/ Councils on Aging accept usable medical equipment donations.

Contact:
1 Common Street - Scituate
781-545-4411
Hours:
Monday - Friday 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

REquipment does not accept hospital beds, built-in-place ramps or stair lifts, braces, CPAP or other medical machines.

Download their Guide to DME Reuse Resources (WORD) for other donation options. Or browse Other Loan/Reuse Options (a MassMATCH webpage).

Medications

Do not flush or put prescription medicine down the drain.

The Police Departments in our Member Towns have kiosks for unwanted medications at their main stations, open 24/7, no question asked.

Walgreen's 24 hour pharmacies in Quincy, Randolph and Stoughton host Safe Medication Disposal kiosks.

Alternatively, and for non prescription medications:

FOR PILLS: crush and pour powder into secure container and put in trash.
FOR LIQUIDS: pour into a rigid container with inedible material like cat litter, coffee grounds or dirt and seal.

Empty prescription pill containers are too small to be sorted properly in single stream recycling (less than 3 oz). Bring to a "Gimme 5" container at Whole Foods or dispose with trash.

Mercury and Mercury-Added Products

Mercury is a silver liquid used in many consumer products. It is ILLEGAL to dispose of mercury or mercury-containing products in the trash or recycling.

While useful when contained in the products, if released into the environment and ingested, it is TOXIC to the nervous system, liver and kidneys. Pregnant women and young children are most vulnerable.

Most of our Member Towns provide free collection service to their residents for mercury containing productsSee the MERCURY PAGE for more information

Metal items

Many of our Member Towns accept propane tanks at their transfer stations and recycling centers. Remove fluids, glass and other non-metal components to the extent possible.

Anything Metal Removal Services
781-385-1404
free pick up Hanover and north; fee for Freon removal

The following yards accept most metal items, and pay for lead-acid batteries, copper and aluminum:

Atlantic Metal Recycling (aka Casoli)
1282 Main St. (Rt. 27) - Hanson
781-293-2463

Desac Disposal Recycle and Transfer Station
106 Essex St. - Whitman
781-447-0137

Excel Recycling
37 Charlotte White Rd. - Westport
508-636-2780

McConnell Enterprises
60 Garden Park - Braintree
781-848-8070

Mid City Scrap
548 State Rd. - Westport
774-319-5420

Spiegel South Shore Scrap
212 N. Cary St. - Brockton
508-897-0008

Mobile Phones

Many retailers (including Home Depot, Lowes, Staples, and Target), schools, police departments, and municipal transfer stations collect unwanted cell phones for profit or for people in need.

Cell Phones for Soldiers is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing cost-free communication services to active duty military members and veterans

Motor Oil

Motor and fuel oil (free of water, gasoline and other contaminants) and antifreeze are accepted by many towns at their Highway Garages or transfer stations. Click under the TOWN PROGRAMS to see if yours does.

Advance Auto Parts stores accept motor oil, transmission fluid, hydraulic oil, gear oil, power steering fluid and used vehicle batteries .

AutoZone stores accept used vehicle batteries and most of their stores accept used motor oil and other fluids.

O'Reilly Auto Parts accepts used motor oil and used vehicle batteries with or without a receipt

If used antifreeze is not accepted by your town, store it securely so pets and children cannot access it, and bring it to a hazardous waste collection event.

Moving Boxes

Reuse is the most cost-resource efficient way to manage materials. Here is a comprehensive list of options for acquiring and passing along moving boxes, with other helpful moving info as well.

Rentacrate rents sturdy plastic moving crates, dollies and other moving items for both residential and commercial moves. (not an endorsement, just information)

U-Haul offers the Customer Connect service to help its customers sell, give away, or find boxes and moving supplies.

Cardboard moving boxes may also be flattened and recycled through your municipal recycling program. Remove all non-paper packing material.

Moving boxes and packing supplies are also readily traded on local community exchange networks including Craigslist and Freecycle. These are also great resources for purging as you prepare to move.

Needles and Sharps: Home Medical Waste

It is illegal to dispose needles and sharps with trash and to mix with recycling.

Disposal instructions may be found at Proper Use and Disposal of Needles and Syringes (Mass DPH), or ask your pharmacist.

Needles and lancets may infect people or animals who come in contact with trash or recycling. Keep needles, syringes, and lancelets in secure plastic containers out of the reach of children.

Secure sharps collection containers are sold at CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid for about $5, and at HVMA for $2.50.

A list of places that accept needles brought in secure plastic containers (not loose):

Abington Health Department, 500 Gliniewicz Road
Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Braintree Health Dept., 1 JFK Memorial Drive
must be in a red sharps container

Cohasset Town Hall, 41 Highland Ave

Duxbury Fire Dept., 668 Tremont Street
Monday - Saturday, 8 AM- 4 PM

East Bridgewater Health Department, 175 Central St.
Mon 8:30 am - 8 pm, Tues-Thurs 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, Fri 8:30 am - noon.
East Bridgewater Fire Department, 268 Bedford St. when Health Department is closed

Hanover Fire Dept., 32 Center Street

Hingham Transfer Station (residents only)

Hull Board of Health, 253 Atlantic Ave.
Sharps containers also available at Board of Health, suggested donation $5

Kingston Fire Department, 105 Pembroke Street

Marshfield Health Department, 870 Moraine St.

Norwell Fire Dept. Headquarters , 300 Washington St.

Pembroke Fire Department, 172 Center Street.

Plymouth Fire Dept., 114 Sandwich St. - Plymouth

Plymouth Health Dept., Town Hall, 26 Court St.

Plymouth BAMSI Outreach 385 Court St, Basement Suite

Rockland Board of Health, 242 Union Street - Rockland

Scituate Fire Department, 149 First Parish Road - Scituate

Weymouth DPW, 120 Winter Street

Weymouth Town Hall, 75 Middle Road

Whitman Board of Health, 54 South Avenue

Check with your Visiting Nurse Association to see if there is a needle or prescription drug collection or re-use program in your area.

For more information, contact: Mass. Dept of Public Health, Division of Community Sanitation 617-727-2660.

Paint (Latex, Oil-Based, Spray) and Stain

See our Paint page

Plastic Plant Pots and Trays

Planter pots, trays and tags are NOT recyclable with your bottles and containers.

Lowe's accepts them to be recycled. (please remove the dirt and plants)

Lowe's also take rechargeable batteries, plastic wrap and compact fluorescent bulbs.

Polypropylene (#5) Plastics

No Content

Propane and Other Tanks

Propane tank retailers take back refillable #20 tanks.

Many of our Member Towns accept propane tanks at their transfer stations and recycling centers. Keep valve closed - propane is heavier than air. An 'empty' tank will have some residual gas that can be recovered by the propane tank processor.

DeSac Disposal in Whitman accepts 20# propane tanks for a fee of $10.

If a 1 lb. tank is essentially EMPTY (note: it's never completely empty), remove both valves using a valve (stem) core removal tool such as this or this. The notch will need to be deepened, as tank valves are longer than tire valves. Watch this video all the way through to avoid starting a fire. Place devalved tank in trash or bring to a scrap metal dealer (look for SCRAP METAL on this page). NEVER try to refill a disposable propane tank - the results can be fatal.

Radioactive Trash

DON’T LET YOUR TRASH SOUND THE ALARM!

Any patients or pets that are undergoing nuclear medicine whose fluids have touched: kitty litter, diapers, tissues and other absorbents - those materials are considered RADIOACTIVE.

Segregate for 90 days before disposing in the trash, or flush if small and biodegradable.

Detection of any amount of radiation in the trash causes the following chain of events:

The entire 20-ton load is rejected at the disposal facility (SEMASS)
Driver & vehicle are detained for hours while Mass. DPH is notified
The driver must return to town with the load
A radiation consultant and hauler sift through the load to attempt to identify the source and type of radiation
If the source can’t be identified, the container is reloaded and quarantined for up to three months, until the consultant determines it to be acceptable at SEMASS
Cost to taxpayers, ratepayers, or the individual can exceed $1,000

Redeemable Bottles and Cans

As of February 2022, carbonated beverage, beer, and malt liquor containers each carry a refundable deposit of 5¢.
All sellers of such beverages must accept containers of brands they sell back for full deposit refund.
Temple Liquors, 42 Temple St., Whitman accepts all redeemable containers in bulk for refund. Bring in bags or boxes.

Refrigerators/Freezers

Lowes accepts appliances for recycling with purchase of new appliance

Green Team Jumk Removal partners with MassSave to collect freon containing appliances at one day events.

Anything Metal Removal Services
(free pick up Hanover and north; fee for Freon removal)
781-385-1404

Atlantic Metal Recycling
1282 Main Street (Rte. 27) - Hanson
781-293-2463

Desac Disposal Recycle and Transfer Station
106 Essex Street - Whitman
781-447-0137

Excel Recycling
37 Charlotte White Road - Westport
508-636-2780

Mid City Scrap
548 State Road - Westport
774-319-5420

Spiegel South Shore Scrap
212 N Cary Street - Brockton
508-897-0008

EverSource and National Grid sponsor a refrigerator/freezer recycling rebate program through MassSave for residential customers.

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