(1) Who receives the Town's Single-Stream recycling collection?

The Town of Manchester provides curbside collection services to all single family homes in the Town, as well as multi-family buildings that have up to four (4) individual dwelling units for trash, recycling, yardwaste and bulky waste.

(2) What materials can I recycle in the Blue Recycling Cart?

Click here for a list of recyclable materials. All recycling can now be placed loose into the recycling cart. We do ask that you follow a few simple guidelines. More information on how to prepare recyclable materials is available here.

• Please continue to flatten cardboard and paperboard/boxboard to preserve space inside the cart.
• Please rinse all food and beverage containers to remove food residues. Thorough washing is not required.
• Please do not put any plastic bags into the recycling cart, this includes any plastic liners from items such as cereal and other food packaging.
• If you wish to recycle shredded paper, please place all shredded paper into a brown, kraft grocery bag and fold. All other fiber should remain loose, including junk mail, office paper, newspaper and inserts, magazines and catalogs, paperboard/boxboard, cardboard, note cards and folders.

(3) How does Single-Stream recycling work, are all of the recyclables truly separated?

YES! Click here to learn more about the Single-Stream Recycling recovery process.

(4) I live in an apartment or condominium that doesn't recycle, or my business doesn't recycle. Is there a location where I can recycle acceptable materials?

YES! Click here to learn more about the 4 locations where the Town offers single stream drop-off containers.

(5) When is my recycling collected, now that the Town is on a bi-weekly collection schedule?

Click here for a schedule of recycling routes, which allows you to search by your street address. A calendar with the recycling schedule will also be delivered with your Blue Recycling Cart. Your recycling collection will continue to be the same day as your trash collection, it will just be every other week.

(6) How much money does recycling save the Town of Manchester?

The Town of Manchester currently pays the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority (CRRA) $69 per ton for each of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), otherwise known as garbage/trash/rubbish, that is sent to the Hartford Waste to Energy Plant for Incineration. Our MSW is no longer landfilled at the Town's Landfill. For each ton of recyclable materials that we send to CRRA for recycling, we save $69 if we had disposed of the recyclable as trash, plus we can receive a rebate, usually between $5 and $10 per ton.We are not charged for the disposal of recyclable materials.

In summary, each ton of material that is recycled has a net effect of saving between $74 and $79 per ton. Since starting single stream recycling, we have increased the amount of recycling by an average of 100 tons per month, thereby saving the Town of Manchester somewhere between $6,900 and $7,900 per month.

(7) My Recycling Cart is full and I have more material, where I can take it?

You can also recycle the items listed here at several drop-off locations around town. The Town containers are metal rolloff boxes and green in color. The Dropp-off containers are accesible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the exception of the containers located at the Manchester Transfer Station, which is open Monday through Saturdays, 7:15am to 3:15pm .

• Manchester Transfer Station - 1 Landfill Way
  (also has two separate boxes for telephone books and soft/hardcover books recycling at 263 Olcott Street)
• Town Hall - Parking Lot, 41 Center Street
• Senior Center - Parking Lot, 549 East Middle Turnpike
• (also has a separate box for soft/hardcover book recycling)
• Tolland Turnpike Fire Station - Corner of Deming Street, 331 Tolland Turnpike

(8) What is aseptic packaging?

Aseptic packaging, commonly known as a 'drink box', is a combination of paper, plastic, and aluminum. This multi-layer package locks out light and air, seals in nutrients and flavor, and allows its contents to remain un-refrigerated for months. In addition to a drink box, milk and juice cartons are also considered aseptic. Also known as gable-topped cartons, they are often a half-gallon in size, but there are smaller and larger sizes as well. For more information, visit www.aseptic.org

(9) Can I use the blue recycling cart for trash or yard-waste collection?

No. The blue carts are only for recycling only. Please place recyclable materials loose into the Blue Recycling Cart,
no plastic bags please. Trash should be placed in your Green Trash Cart and yard-waste should be bagged in a Brown Kraft Bag for curbside collection. Yard-waste bags are sold by the Town and available at the Transfer Station/Landfill and Town Hall, as well as several local retailers and grocery stores.