Ask A Meck County Expert 

Mecklenburg Solid Waste experts receive hundreds of residential waste disposal and recycling questions weekly. To educate and empower Natural Awakenings readers, their experts provide updates and answer some of the most frequently asked questions in a bi-monthly column.

Recycle Right This Summer

Summer is here and many of us will enjoy the beach and pool, outdoor picnics, festivals, and sporting events. Mecklenburg County Solid Waste wants you to enjoy summer while recycling right! 

You can always recycle these 6 items curbside: glass bottles and jars, cardboard and small boxes, milk and juice cartons, paper and magazines, empty metal cans, plastic bottles and jugs. But what about sunscreen bottles, broken floats, or old towels?  

Plastic Bottles with Necks & Metal Cans 

Soda (cans and bottles), water bottles, sports drinks, and other beverages likely fill your cooler every summer. You can recycle those both curbside and at any recycling center in Mecklenburg County. We ask that you leave the caps on the bottles and do not crush cans.

Foam Coolers and Cups 

Foam coolers can be helpful in a pinch. But don’t trash them once you’re done. We recycle white rigid foam at our full-service centers as part of our enhanced recycling program. You can also bring us foam cups. Just make sure items are clean and dry, and without any stickers or plastic lids or straws.  

Sunscreen Bottles

The type of bottle decides if you can or can’t recycle it. Plastic tubes or bottles of sunscreen are not recyclable. The plastic they’re made from is not recyclable in Mecklenburg County. The sunscreen inside can cause problems for our machines. 

However, you can recycle aerosol (spray) sunscreen bottles with your curbside recyclables!  

Old Towels, Bathing Suits 

If you’re tossing old swimsuits and towels, don’t trash them. Instead, place them in the big blue textile recycling bins at any of our full-service centers. Donated items are repurposed or broken down for new fabrics. We also take other textiles like shoes, hats, sheets, and accessories. 

Broken Floats

Pool floats and other inflatables are fun, until they get a hole in them. Unfortunately, broken floats cannot be recycled – curbside or at full-service centers. They’re often made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is very difficult to recycle anywhere. 

Broken Toys

If your shovels, buckets, diving sticks, and other water toys break, please don’t recycle them. Just like broken floats, these items are made of PVC.  

Not sure if something is recyclable? Visit our CheckMeck widget at tinyurl.com/CheckMeckWaste.

Full-service centers: Hickory Grove-8007 Pence Rd., Charlotte; Compost Central-140 Valleydale Rd, Charlotte; Foxhole-17131 Lancaster Hwy, Charlotte and North Mecklenburg-12300 Statesville Rd., Huntersville. If you have program questions about recycling, waste diversion or anything else related to waste, please visit WipeOutWaste.com. To submit a waste disposal and recycling question, email [email protected]. Jeff Smithberger, Director of Solid Waste, answers the top seven residential recycling questions at https://tinyurl.com/MeckRecyleRightFAQs.

Mecklenburg Solid Waste - 2145 Suttle Ave, Charlotte, NC

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