The Northern Colorado region is known for their green practices, extreme care for the environment and eco-friendly habits. Just take a look at the way the residents of this area prefer two wheels to four, their love for solar energy and their collective green thumb in the garden.

One of the more active ways a city can practice their eco-friendliness is by recycling on a daily basis. While you may have a current recycling pick-up system in place at your house, maybe you’re looking for a location you can drop off your recycled materials in town. Besides, you can’t just drop a car battery in your curbside recycling bin and call it good.

Thankfully, there are several drop-off sites and recycling centers in the area to make this process as painless as possible — from plastics to computer monitors!

 

1. The Larimer County Recycling Center

The Larimer County Recycling Center is located at the Larimer County Solid Waste facility south of Harmony Road.  Recycling drop off containers are ​located across the parking lot from the Household Hazardous Waste facility (follow the signs) and are available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday (excluding holidays.)

If you’re dropping your recyclables off here, keep in mind that you must separate certain materials before doing so.

There are separate containers for various recyclables (see below):

  • Office Paper
  • Newspaper, Magazines, Catalogs
  • Paperboard & Low Grade Paper
  • Commingled (includes plastic containers stamped #1-#7 as well as aluminum and steel cans)
  • Cardboard and Brown Paper Bags (broken or cut down)
  • Glass bottles and Jarsglass bottles and jars

Each container has a sign listing the acceptable materials for that container.  Recyclables in plastic bags are not acceptable.  There is a separate container for plastic grocery bags (only)
Trash and other materials should not be placed in any of these containers.  Contaminants create problems in sorting and recycling materials.

On that note, there’s a lot to learn about recycling plastics, so be sure to check out their guide to acceptable and unacceptable plastic containers!

For further information, call 970-498-5772.

 

2. Timberline Recycling Center

There is some exciting news in the recycling world of Fort Collins! The Timberline Recycling Center is moving their operation to a new recycling center a half-mile down the road scheduled to be opened on August 22, 2016. Not only will they have new and improved facilities, Timberline will now accept more materials than ever before!

Residents and local businesses can drop off conventional recycled materials at no charge, just as they could at the old location. However, for $5 per visit, you may now bring a variety of “hard-to-recycle” materials, including paint, used motor oil, antifreeze, batteries, electronic waste, scrap metal, concrete/asphalt/rubble/porcelain and organic debris.

Can’t stand the wait? Watch a live video stream of the site’s construction.

 

3. City of Loveland Recycling Center

The City of Loveland Recycling Center is located in the western part of the city near Schuster Lake. Bring your recyclables to their facilities Tuesday through Sunday between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., keeping in mind the various specifications this recycling center has.

Eligible Loveland residents will receive a permit to present in order to drop off yard debris — but a permit is not required to dispose of recyclables!

At the City of Loveland Recycling Center, you may recycle:

  • yard debris and raw wood debris
  • metal
  • electronics
  • household items
  • concrete

Check out their full list of specific recyclable items to see what each category includes.

You may also recycle the following items, if you separate them in their designated collection containers:

  • glass bottles and jars
  • mixed office paper
  • magazines and newspapers
  • commingled plastics and metal cans
  • cardboard
  • paperboard

 

4. Rocky Mountain Recycling Center

RMB Recycling Center is a locally owned business serving Fort Collins and Loveland since 1982. They accept various scrap metals, and give cash for non-ferrous metals including aluminum and aluminum cans, brass copper, lead, stainless steel, radiators and lead acid batteries. RMB Recycling Center also accepts car batteries, fax machines, VCRs and DVD players. Keep in mind that you must pay a fee if you would like to recycle monitors, laptops, copiers and microwaves.

RMB has a thriving pallet business they started in the late ‘90s, where they recondition four-way wood pallets for shipping and provide and sell pallets to commercial accounts and the general public.

 

Happy Recycling!