Trash, Recycling & Yard Waste Area Map:

A map of Upper Dublin Township depicting the 4 different waste collection areas A, B, C, and D.

 

Area: If Trash & Recycle is collected on: Yard Waste pick-up day is:
A Monday Thursday
B Thursday Wednesday (Automated)
C Tuesday Wednesday (Automated)
D Friday Tuesday

 

Recycling Parameters

The following items are allowable in your recycle cart:

  • Paper/Cardboard*
  • #1 thru #7 Plastics**
  • Glass bottles and jars (all colors)
  • Aluminum cans, tin cans, and bi-metal Cans

*Paper/Cardboard: Newspaper, office paper, magazines, catalogues, junk mail, phone books, cereal boxes and cardboard can be recycled in the blue recycling cart. Objects may NOT protrude out of the cart - the lid must close. Hard-back books and any food-contaminated cardboard (i.e. pizza boxes) are not permitted. Cardboard: Please see below for information and instructions specific to cardboard collection during the Regular Weekly Mixed-Recycling Collection and the Free Wednesday Cardboard Pickup.

**#1 thru #7 Plastics: Look on the bottom of the plastics to find a recycling symbol with a #1 thru #7 in its center. If there is any number other than #1 thru #7 OR no markings at all, discard the item with regular household trash.

  • #1 - Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET, PETE). PET is a clear, tough plastic used in soda bottles.
  • #2 - High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is a plastic used to make bottles for milk jugs, detergent containers and shampoo bottles.
  • #3 - Vinyl or Polyvinyl Chloride (V). V is a rigid plastic used cleaning product containers.
  • #4 - Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE). LDPE is a plastic used to make plastic tubs and lids such as butter and margarine tubs. (Exclude #4 packing materials such as shrink wrap, film or bubble wrap - it damages the sorting equipment)
  • #5 - Polyproplene (PP). PP is a plastic used for yogurt and butter containers. (NO Polypropylene bags or fabric.)
  • #6 - Polysterene (PS). PS is a plastic used for food storage and serving products. (Polystyrene/Styrofoam® is NOT accepted in any form.)
  • #7 - Other. Other mixed plastics.

Please remember we only accept #1 thru #7 plastics and not all plastics are acceptable. Plastic bags, plastic caps, plastic six-pack holders, syringes, and Styrofoam are not accepted.
Why do we not accept #4 and #6 packing materials? #6 packing materials are Styrofoam packing peanuts that cannot be recycled. The #4 material is shrinkwrap that can only be recycled in extremely large quantities and only if the material is isolated. It cannot go in with someone's curbside single stream recycling because the material cannot be pulled out in the sorting system and it ends up getting wrapped around the belts and screens, damaging and stopping the equipment.

Cardboard Recycling Instructions for Regular Weekly Mixed-Recycling and FREE Scheduled Wednesday Cardboard Pickup

*Please be advised: Instructions for your Regular Weekly Mixed-Recycling Collection are separate from the Wednesday Cardboard Pickup due to the use of different trucks and recycling facilities. Please read both sets of instructions.

Regular Weekly Mixed-Recycling Instructions

All cardboard included with your Regular Weekly Mixed-Recycling Collection must be flattened, cut into smaller pieces, placed inside the cart, and the cart lid must fully close. (Please see “FREE Wednesday Cardboard Pickup Instructions” below for instructions specific to that collection.)

Why?
Your Regular Weekly Recycling Collection is done using an automated truck. This means a mechanical arm on the truck picks up and empties carts into an opening on the top of the truck. When the arm of the automated truck applies slight pressure to pick up the cart, it will not empty if it has been packed with large amounts of cardboard. Additional problems occur if cardboard pieces are protruding from the cart causing the lid to not fully close. When a lid is not fully closed, contents will not empty correctly into the truck and may get stuck on top of the truck and/or spill into the street. This causes delays in collection and puts our crew’s safety at risk when they have to climb the truck to clear blockages and throw in spilled pieces.

What happens if I don’t comply?
Following the above instructions ensures the automated truck can empty the cart without contents becoming stuck or causing issues that put the crew’s safety at risk. If these instructions are not met, your recycling cart will be tagged and the collection will be skipped.

FREE Wednesday Cardboard Pickup Instructions

This FREE Wednesday Pickup must be scheduled ahead of time on the online store at upperdublin.net/store. Place cardboard at curb the Tuesday night before a scheduled Wednesday collection.

Cardboard for this collection does NOT need to be cut up in small pieces, but boxes must be flattened and either tied with twine, placed inside another box, or weighed down so that it will not blow around the neighborhood or into the street creating a traffic hazard (see pictures below). The Township provided Blue Recycling Cart may also be used for the Wednesday cardboard collection, but it MUST CONTAIN ONLY CARDBOARD or it will not be collected. Boxes must be flattened to ensure there is no non-recyclable materials such as Styrofoam™, plastic wrap, or trash inside the boxes, which could cause the entire load to be rejected.

cardboard curbside pickup depiction

 

 

 

 

 

Why?
The Scheduled Wednesday Collection is collected with a different truck than the Regular Weekly Mixed-Recycling collections, which is why there are different requirements as described above. A rear-loading truck is loaded manually by crews and is not automated like the Regular Weekly Mixed-Recycling collections. The cardboard collected during the Wednesday Cardboard Pickup goes to a different processing plant than recyclables collected during the Regular Mixed-Recycling Collection. This plant only processes cardboard and does not have the ability to separate other materials. That means if you decide to use your cart for this pickup, the cart must ONLY contain cardboard and no other recycling materials.

If you have any questions, please call Sanitation Project Coordinator Craig D. Frey at 215-643-1600 extension 3412, or email at cfrey@upperdublin.net.

Please Remember These Special Instructions

  • Place recycling curbside the night before your regular scheduled collection day.
  • As a courtesy to the crews who service the bin, please rinse out all cans, bottles and jars.
  • Items covered with maggots or yellow jackets will be left behind.
  • Corrugated cardboard can be added to the recycle cart, but must not protrude out of the cart.
  • Make sure the recycle cart is at least 4' away from the brown refuse cart.
  • Do not over-stuff your cart. The lid must close.

Strategies to reduce unwanted catalogs. Consumers can sign up for the free Catalog Choice Service. Users find the catalogs they receive on a list, then enter their customer identification numbers from the mailing labels to decline the catalogs. Catalog Choice then contacts the catalog providers and request that the names be removed from their mailing lists. This service is sponsored by the Ecology Center of California and is endorsed by the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense council and funded by the Overbrook Foundation, the Merck Family Fund, and the Kendeda Fund. Another way to reduce unwanted catalogs is to register with the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service for a $1 fee.

We Do Not Accept the Following Items

Ceramics, light bulbs, mirrors, plate or window glass, drinking glasses, Pyrex, lead crystal, coat hangers, curtain rods, ovenware, flower pots, large plastic tub containers, plastic toys, Tupperware, pizza boxes (or any other food contaminated paper/cardboard), frozen food boxes, photographs, wax paper, tin foil, carbon paper, plastic bags, plastic caps, plastic six-pack holders, syringes, styrofoam, disposable foil tins, aluminum or other scrap metal, aerosol cans or any container that was used for hazardous materials. Note: Fluorescent Light Bulbs can be dropped off at Lowes and Home Depot for free.

For a handy reference on acceptable recyclables, print The Recycling Bin's Dirty Dozen.

Guide-The Top 10 Items That Should NEVER Be In Your Recycling Cart

Recycling Links

Remember to: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Download brochures, reports and collection route map below.

Questions? Call the Public Works Department at (215) 643-1600 x0.
Information is subject to change due to various conditions.

Public Works Information

DETAILS

Trash & Recycling

DETAILS

Phone And Email Directory

Alessandrini, Ralph

Public Works Director (215) 643-1600 x3807/ralessandrini@upperdublin.net

Barrett, Becki

Public Works Administrative Assistant (215) 643-1600 x3810/rbarrett@upperdublin.net

Brown, Bernard

Highway Superintendent (215) 643-1600 x3806/bbrown@upperdublin.net

Fennell, Mary Anne

Engineering Assistant (215) 643-1600 x3233/mfennell@upperdublin.net

Fountain, Thomas

Township Engineer (215) 643-1600 x3372/tfountain@upperdublin.net

Frey, Craig D.

Sanitation Project Coordinator (215) 643-1600 x3412/cfrey@upperdublin.net

Gaul, Jerry

Fleet & Facilities Director (215) 643-1600 x3808/jgaul@upperdublin.net

Haber, Ray

Traffic Signals, Street Lights & Sign Shop 215-643-1600 x3811/rhaber@upperdublin.net

Harold, Les

Sanitation Superintendent (215) 643-1600 x3801/sanitation@upperdublin.net

Public Works Inspector

Inspections (215) 643-1600 x3810/pwinspector@upperdublin.net

Report an Issue

Would you like to report an issue?

Call Upper Dublin Township,

at (215) 643-1600 ext. 0

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