Ask the Hub

We take certain items for free, others for a fee, and there are certain items we can’t take at all. You can also reference this quick guide or post it in your home/office/classroom to help others.

Those are actually several questions so we’ll break it down.  Our items get stored in a  warehouse until we have enough of that item to ship or send to an organization to recycle.  We do not want to attract bugs and rodents into our warehouse space and recycling which is why they need to be clean.  Additionally, food residue and dirt can get into the recycling stream and contaminate the items we are trying to recycle.

We want items dry so there is no trapped moisture that can cause mold to grow.  Additionally it just feels gross to pull out someone’s recycling that is all wet!

All items should be emptied of product as much as possible and cleaned out with soap and water if the item allows. This includes plastics (both hard and flexible), makeup, tubes of toothpaste and squeeze pouches. When in doubt, throw it out.

As with most things in life there are exceptions. Old shoes, dead markers, tires and good condition gardening supplies don’t have to be squeaky clean. Just make sure they are clean enough to handle. Knock the dirt off of old pots and shoes and make sure they aren’t wet. If you have plastic pots that are cracked/broken and can’t be re-used again they do need to be clean and dry so they can be recycled and don’t contaminate the recycling stream.

Our recycling goes to a lot of different facilities, and if it does not come in sorted then we have to rely on volunteers to sort items along with all the other tasks that need to get done. The unsorted recycling would quickly over take our warehouse space! As for plastics, factories that make new products out of plastics are set up to take only specific resin types. Even resins with the same number can't always be recycled together. Find more on how to prepare for your visit to the Hub here.

When you arrive at the Hub we will ask you to come in to drop your items off in the correct boxes. If you have already sorted your items this will help that process go quicker. If you have not sorted your items it could take longer depending on how much recycling you have. Find more on how to prepare for your visit to the Hub and speed the process here.

It costs money for a company to take apart electronics, and some items in electronics are considered hazardous waste and therefore difficult to dispose of.  These companies are certified to properly dispose of these hazardous waste items.  The Hub also must pay a fee for the driver and truck for these items to get hauled to their facility.  While we do make a small amount of money recycling electronics, we are mostly just passing along the fees other companies charge us.  View our full list of items with fees here.

Fees vary for each item. View our full list of items with fees here.

Our non-profit is currently run by a very small staff and primarily volunteer-led. We don’t yet have enough folks to staff the hours we do have on a regular basis. Interested in changing that? Check out our volunteer opportunities!

At this time, children over the age of 12 can volunteer. At least one adult must accompany every three children. Children over 16 can volunteer alone.

For large corporate groups or troops, please contact the Hub to schedule. 

View additional information about volunteer opportunities here.

There has to be a market for plastic recycling in order for it to be recycled. New plastic is cheap. In order to recycle plastic a company has to first collect, sort, clean and shred the plastic. That added cost is passed along to manufacturers who use recycled plastic. As consumers, we need to put pressure on the large companies and stores to take back their plastic waste, use recycled plastic or find an alternative to plastic. Until we do, companies have no incentive to pay the higher price for recycled plastic. In the meantime consumers should look for alternative products that use less or no plastic.