{"id":407234,"date":"2026-07-21T23:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/407234\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T23:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:48:07","slug":"san-jose-doesnt-want-plastic-bags-case-wrap-in-recycling-so-what-should-you-do-with-them-the-mercury-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/407234\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose doesn\u2019t want plastic bags, case wrap in recycling. So what should you do with them? \u2013 The Mercury News"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Jose early this month called out 10 common items mistakenly tossed into curbside<\/a> recycling bins. That triggered a deluge of readers wanting to know just where those materials actually should\u00a0go.<\/p>\n

The city says misplaced items increase costs for San Jose\u2019s recycling contractors to \u201cproperly sort and dispose of these items.\u201d Top culprits include plastic bags and case wrap as well as expanded polystyrene products like Styrofoam packaging peanuts, cups, and to-go containers. Chip bags with reflective foil linings and everyday household items \u2013 such as garden hoses, diapers, plastic hangers, and toys \u2013 also cannot go in the curbside recycle bins.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 10 things San Jose says residents should keep out of recycling bins<\/a><\/p>\n

So what should you do with these items?<\/p>\n

For residents confused about proper disposal, two official online resources detail which items can be recycled: SanJoseRecycles.org, run by the city, and RecycleStuff.org, a regional directory managed in collaboration with the San Jose Conservation Corps and Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.<\/p>\n

These sites cover recycling and disposal guidelines for a wide range of materials, including household appliances, art supplies, automotive waste, baby gear, and batteries. Residents are advised to call drop-off locations ahead of time to confirm current hours and acceptance policies.<\/p>\n

While plastic bags and case wrap can go in the regular garbage, several local grocery stores and retail locations accept clean plastic film for specialized recycling.<\/p>\n

For pizza boxes, San Jose advises putting greasy or oil-stained bottoms into the garbage. However, clean cardboard tops can be torn off and recycled \u2014 provided they aren\u2019t lined with plastic, foil or wax. Similarly, other food-soiled paper items \u2013 including napkins, paper towels, tissues, greasy takeout boxes, and paper coffee cups \u2013 cannot be recycled and belong in the garbage.<\/p>\n

For textiles and clothing, the city suggests residents donate them to organizations such as Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Hope Services, and RAFT.<\/p>\n

While aluminum, glass, plastic, and bi-metal beverage containers can go directly into curbside recycling, they can also be redeemed for cash through the California Redemption Value program, which pays 5 cents for containers smaller than 24 ounces and 10 cents for containers 24 ounces or larger.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0What to do with millions of old batteries from e-bikes, law tools, and power stations? Companies may be required to take them back<\/a><\/p>\n

Hazardous materials such as electronic waste, antifreeze, motor oil, paint, lighters, and pepper spray require special handling and can be scheduled for a free drop-off appointment with Santa Clara County.<\/p>\n

For non-hazardous bulky items like mattresses or furniture, residents can schedule a free curbside pickup through San Jos\u00e9 311.<\/p>\n

All other items on the city\u2019s top 10 list belong in the regular trash, but residents can check SanJoseRecycles.org to look up any unfamiliar materials.<\/p>\n

While city officials emphasized the need to keep improving recycling habits, they noted that recent progress has already led to significant taxpayer savings. According to a 2024 study, San Jose\u2019s recycling contamination rate fell to 41% from 57% in 2022. City officials said the drop reduces contractor compensation by $6.5 million each year from 2025 through 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Jose early this month called out 10 common items mistakenly tossed into curbside recycling bins. That triggered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,443,2333,643,1533,181,100,182,1667,88,5500,90,89,198,200],"class_list":["post-407234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-climate-change","tag-editors-picks","tag-environment","tag-keywee","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-pm-report","tag-recycling","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-city-council","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}