Flagstaff City Recycling

How to Recycle...

Cardboard - Remove all packaging materials and fold flat.
Cans: Steel & Aluminum - Steel, Tin, Aluminum, Empty metal paint & Aerosol cans
Paper - Magazines, Newspapers, Catalogs, White paper, Colored paper, Letters and Junk mail
Chipboard - Dry food boxes such as Cereal, Cake mixes & Cracker, Beer & Soda carriers, Shoe Boxes (No Frozen Food Boxes)
No Glass Please - There are places to recycle glass in Flagstaff but not by city pick-up for more information on glass recycling call 774-0668.

Odds & Ends Recycling...

Appliances - Call 774-0668 for options or to request a pickup
Tires - Coconino County runs the Waste Tire Collection Site located at 5701 East Penstock. Call 526-2735 for more information.
Electronics/computers - Some components in most electronic products contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium. They can create environmental problems if they are thrown away with other household waste. Please call 774-0668 for disposal options.
Telephone books - Check with the recycling office at 779-7621 for telephone book drop-off locations throughout the year.

Household Hazardous Waste

Many of the products we use regularly in our homes are hazardous materials. These products, if not handled properly, can harm the environment or public property if not properly disposed. Improper product disposal can cause fires, injuries to people and animals, and can contaminate surface and ground water.
To find out whether a household chemical is a household hazardous waste, read the product label. Look for the signal words - Caution, Warning, Danger - indicating the products degree of hazard. Caution indicates a mild hazard, Warning indicates a moderate hazard, and Danger an extreme hazard. Other signal words indicate the type of hazard posed by a product. The words flammable, combustible, or contains petroleum distillates indicates that a product is hazardous because of it's flammability. The words contains acid, contains lye, or causes burns to skin indicate that a product is hazardous because it is corrosive. The words poison or harmful if swallowed indicate that a product is toxic.
The city of Flagstaff Conservation Program offers some recommendations to consider when purchasing household items:

• Read the label; make sure the product will do what you want before purchasing and follow label directions for disposal.
• Purchase only the amount needed and completely use what you buy.
• Avoid aerosols; choose pump sprays and other alternatives.
• Select water-based over solvent-based products when available.

Local disposal options - The City of Flagstaff and Coconino County have sponsored an annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day for the past eight years. We are very pleased to announce that the City is constructing a permanent Household Hazardous Waste Facility, located at the Cinder Lake Landfill. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in Fall 2002. This will take place of the annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection event. For the status of the facility, or current disposal options, please call our program coordinator: (928) 527-9005.

PRE-cycle

Think about waste before you buy! Remember to only purchase what you need, purchase in containers that are recyclable locally, buy in bulk, and reduce the amount of waste by making sound decisions. Buying items with recycled content material is an important step to consider.

Reuse

Reusing items is the second of the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), preferred over recycling because while something may no longer be of value to you, it may be to someone else. Moreover, reuse does not require collection, processing, and transportation to a remanufacturer as recycling does. Some nonprofit organizations fund their endeavors by selling used items in thrift stores. Look in the telephone book Yellow pages under "Thrift Stores" for these organizations. (Some even offer pickup service.) for a comprehensive reuse list call 779-7624

Home Composting

Composting is a simple process that keeps organic material out of the landfill. Composting food scraps and yard trimmings yields a valuable soil additive which can be mixed with garden soil, mulched around existing plants, or used in combination with potting soil for house plants. Compost bins are available annually through the City- call 779-7624 for information