El Paso Resumes Curbside Recycling Jan 19

Beginning Tuesday, January 19, the city’s Environmental Services Department will resume curbside recycling collection.

Recycling routes will be phased in, meaning collection will be staggered and not all residents will have their blue bin emptied in the first week. This approach will give the Environmental Services Department the time it needs to get back to every other week collection.

To find out what your collection day is going forward, click HERE and enter your street address in the search box. You can also call 212-6000.

Until the trucks roll through your neighborhood again, you can continue hauling recyclables to the nearest Citizen Collection Station or just throw everything in the gray bin.

Participation in the recycling program is voluntary. If you choose not to recycle, call 311 and they'll send someone to pick up the blue bin. Either way, your monthly $19 “Gray Trash Bin” fee will remain the same. ESD maintains it does not charge for recycling although your water bill does reflect a $5 "environmental fee," which El Paso Water describes as “charges for the Environmental Services Department for solid waste and recycling.”

Curbside recycling was put on pause in December because of staffing shortages related to the pandemic. City officials said drivers were either getting infected, having to quarantine, or dealing with family members getting infected with the coronavirus and they couldn't safely maintain the program so the decision to put it on hold was made.