Curbside recycling will be coming back beginning next week and judging from the lines that people were waiting in at Customer Recycling Centers, El Pasoans will be properly disposing of their recyclables and not messing things up by bagging the wrong items and not rinsing food containers.

Since it's been a minute since we all recycled at our houses, here is a refresher on what you can and can't recycle and how to properly recycle food containers. From the Environmental Services Department, This is what you can you recycle and how you should handle recycing these items:

For paper products, the thing to remember is to put them in the blue recycling bin without a bag. If you bag them, the bag causes problems with the machines. Here's what you can recycle:
Newspaper and advertising inserts (bags and strings removed)
Junk or advertising mail and envelopes
All office paper
Colored or white paper
Paperback and Hardback books (all soft, hard covers should be ripped off)
Magazines, catalogs and phone books
Paper wrapping paper (cannot contain foil or glitter)
Paper bags (put 5-6 bags in each bag)
Unused paper cups and plates
Construction paper
Heavy weight folders
Holiday or birthday cards
Postcards

For food containers, you have to remember to rinse and put in the blue recycling bin without a bag. The bags cause problems with the machinery and the food really messes it up so rinse before you recycle.
Yogurt, dairy, and margarine tubes and lids
Milk, juice, soda, and other beverage bottles and their caps
Shampoo and conditioner bottles
Window, bathroom, and kitchen cleaning bottles
Detergent and fabric softener bottles
Empty prescription or over the counter medicine vials and caps
Stadium cups
Durable reusable containers and lids (Tupperware-type materials)
Rigid plastics (laundry baskets, lawn furniture, buckets and toys. You can place these items in your blue bin if they can fit with the lid closed)
Food jars and squeezable bottles (mayonnaise mustard, ketchup, salad dressing, vegetable oils, barbeque sauce, and syrup)

For cardboard, as with all other recyclables, you shouldn't bag the items. Do not recycle styrofoam or packing peanuts.
Cereal and dry food boxes (without the liner)
Cardboard egg cartons
Flattened cardboard boxes (free of styrofoam or peanuts)
Tissue boxes
Kitchen or toilet paper rolls
Toothpaste box
Shoe boxes (must be empty)
Gift boxes (free of wrapping paper, ribbon, or tape)
Cracker boxes

Metal food or liquid containers can be recycled but need to be rinsed and also cannot be bagged.
Soda and another aluminum cans
Canned food cans and their caps or lids
Clothes hangers (bundled)
Pots or pans (without wood, plastic or rubber attachments)

Let's recycle right El Paso so it's worth the effort and helps save our environment while freeing up space in the landfill.

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