Frequently Asked Questions

No. 

Plastic bottles, containers, and cups #1(PETE) #2(HDPE) #5(PP) ONLY, Paper cups and coffee cups with or without sleeves, Cardboard FLATTENED, Paperboard/Boxboard (The material most dry food and cereal boxes are made from)

Regular paper, Newspapers, magazines, and junk mail, even envelopes with plastic windows, Drink and food cartons- Rinsed (milk & juice type cartons) NO TO-GO CONTAINERS

Aluminum and metal cans- Rinsed, Clean aluminum foil, Glass bottles and jars-Rinsed. Remove the lids and include them in your recycling.  No mirrors or window glass.

Please rinse food containers, bottles, and jars. 

No.  Recyclable items are to be put directly in the bin.  Items in plastic bags will not be picked up. 

No.  Plastic bags are not accepted. Check local grocery stores for drop off locations.

To report a missed pickup contact: please contact Waste Management at 305-296-8297

Hazardous chemicals, car batteries, paints, radioactive waste, gasoline, oil, or construction debris. The City of Key West offers a free collection of Household Hazardous Waste (household chemicals and electronics) for residents of the City of Key West only. This service is held on the first Saturday of every month at the City's Indigenous Park, 1800 White Street, from 8 AM to 12 Noon.

No. The City and Waste Management provide homeowners in the City of Key West with one (1) green cart for garbage and one (1) blue cart for recycling.  It is the responsibility of the homeowner/ tenant to put all recycling items in the blue cart.  Items in the recycling cart should be loose and not placed in bags. 

No.  Recycling carts are blue. Recycling may only be used for loose recyclable items, as the carts are collected by three different trucks.  One for yard waste, one for garbage, and one for recycling.  Putting garbage in your blue cart will contaminate all the recycling in the truck. 

No.  Blue recycling carts are only for items accepted in the recycling programs.  Yard waste in blue carts will result in a non-collection. 

If a recycling bin contains more than 10% contamination (including food, yard waste, plastic bags, garbage, or pet waste), it will be emptied as solid waste to prevent contamination of the entire truck. 

If the cart has more than 10% contamination, it will not be acceptable for collection for recycling. 

Wood is considered construction debris and cannot be placed in yard waste or recycling carts. Please call Waste Management for assistance at 305-296-8297

No.  Please check your local grocery store for drop-off locations for flex/film recycling.

No.  Styrofoam is not accepted in any form (take-out containers/packaging/etc).  Check local grocery stores for drop-off locations.

Many businesses have drop-off carts for hard-to-recycle products.  Local grocers often have collection bins for plastic bags and clean Styrofoam containers.  Office supply stores recycle ink cartridges.  Home improvement stores may recycle batteries and light bulbs.  Consider donating your used clothing and furniture before disposing of them in a landfill.  Check out websites like Earth911 to locate recycling drop-off sites or Terracycle mail-in programs.