Recycling can be confusing! If you’re wondering whether something should be recycled or thrown in the trash, just head to recyclect.com (English) or recyclect.com(Spanish) and enter the item in the RecycleCT Wizard. You can also download the Wizard as an app on the App Store or Google Play to have answers at your fingertips whenever you need them.

If you’d like to learn more about recycling in Connecticut, check out the SustainableCT YouTube page for short, informative videos, or watch the recording (about 1 hour and 15 minutes long) of the October 23^rd What’s In, What’s Out Recycling Workshop, led by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection sustainable waste management specialist, Sherill Baldwin.

Here are some of our takeaways from the workshop:  

1. Generally, containers (plastic, metal, and glass) and fibers (paper, cardboard, pizza boxes) are acceptable in our blue recycling toters. Notable exceptions include paper ice cream boxes (example here) and twine handles on paper bags (but if you rip the handles off and throw ‘em in the trash, you can recycle the paper bag!). Note also that Bottle caps are not acceptable on their own but are okay if they are left on the bottle!
2. Just because an item is made of plastic or metal, doesn’t mean it is acceptable in the mixed recycling program. Even if a plastic toy has recycling arrows on it, it’s not acceptable! Plastic, glass, and metal items need to be a container (e.g., bottle, can, or plastic jug or tub).  
3. CT has many recycling programs beyond single-stream recycling (blue bins)! Learn more about where to safely dispose of paint, scrap metal, syringes, yard trimmings, electronics and more at recyclect.com. Be careful not to put anything too sharp or otherwise dangerous in the bin—your local recycling pickup workers will thank you for it.
4. Download and print this for your own use:
   1. English - RecycleCT_Poster_12.19.22.pdf
   2. Spanish - RecycleCT_Poster_SPA_12.19.22.pdf

If you’d like to learn more about where to bring your recycling and household waste in New Haven, visit the Department of Parks and Public Works website and the New Haven Solid Waste and Recycling Authority website. 

Paint Recycling

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that about 10% of all paint purchased in the United States becomes leftover – around 64 million gallons annually. Leftover and unusable paint wastes natural resources, causes pollution when disposed of improperly, and costs municipalities thousands of dollars in trash disposal fees. Connecticut has collected over 3.5 million gallons of used paint through the Paint Care Program. 

Through the program, you can dispose of your paint in designated paint drop-off sites. To be accepted for drop-off, PaintCare products must be in their original containers of no larger than 5 gallons in size, must have the original manufacturer’s printed label on the container, and must be covered with a secured lid. PaintCare cannot accept open or leaking cans. Empty paint cans should go in the trash.

Use the Site Locator to find the closest paint drop-off site to you. There are five paint drop-off locations in and immediately around New Haven:

• New Haven Regional Water Authority (90 Sargant Drive, New Haven, CT 06511)
• Grand Paint & Carpet Center (451 Grand Ave, New Haven, CT, 06513)
• PPG Paints (390 East St, New Haven, CT, 06511)
• Goodys Hardware (540 Main St, East Haven, CT, 06512)
• Sherwin-Williams (454 Whalley Ave, New Haven, CT, 06511)

All PaintCare sites accept up to 5 gallons per visit (but some take more!). Please call ahead to confirm business hours and ask if they can accept the type and amount of paint you would like to recycle. Sites do not accept aerosols (spray cans), leaking, unlabeled, or empty containers.