The City of Kalamazoo encourages all residents to take advantage of our bi-weekly single stream recycling program. If you do not have a recycling cart, please complete this form or call the City of Kalamazoo at (269) 337-8215 and we'll arrange for one to be delivered to your home. To find out when your recycling collection is, please see the map in the View from the Curb or search for your street below using the Recycle Coach App (If you live on a private street, please call 311 for further details).
For more information about what can or cannot be recycled, please refer to the Recycle Coach app or visit the Recycling Raccoons!
Request a Recycling Cart Recycling Map Report a Missed Collection Recycling Calendar
pdf Printable Recycling Calendar (634 KB)
If your collection falls on Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, or New Years Day, your collection and all remaining collections that week will be delayed one day, with Friday collections occurring on Saturday.
Recyclables should be out at the curb by 6:00 a.m. on the scheduled collection day, but set them out no sooner than one day prior to collection. Remove your recycling bin from the curblawn no later than 11:00 p.m. of the day of your collection.
You can report a missed pick up here.
Information on what can be recycled is available by using the FREE Recycle Coach app for iOS or Android or by using the plugin in below.
Please do NOT include any of the following: plastic bags of any kind (no matter what symbol is on the bag), packing foam or Styrofoam (polystyrene) materials, bottles or containers that have held a toxic material such as motor oil, heat resistant glass such as canning jars, any glassware approved for the oven, hot foods or hot liquids, tissues or paper disposables, such as hand towels, paper plates, paper cups or any freezer food boxes.
The informational and educational materials that were produced during our single stream conversion in 2017 were supported in part by a MDEQ Recycling Grant.
Recycle Coach
The City of Kalamazoo is happy to parter with Recycle Coach to offer customized recycling information on our website, your mobile devices, or on the Recycle Coach website. The service provides customized collection schedules and service alerts, and can also be used to find out the best way to dispose of an item or report a missed collection. The service is available for free by downloading the app on iTunes or Google Play.
Drop off recycling site
Republic Waste Services' drop off recycling center at 3432 Gembrit Cir. is open to all area residents and businesses from Mondays through Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to noon. The recycling center offers area households and businesses an opportunity to recycle newspapers, mail, magazines, catalogs, cereal box-type cartons, telephone books, metal cans, plastic bottles and jugs with narrow necks, colorless glass, brown glass, green glass and scrap metal. It does not accept motor oil or Styrofoam-like cups, trays, egg cartons, packing forms, and other polystyrene. However, UPS Store, Mail Etc, Mail Room, and Pak Mail accept clean, loose-fill packing peanuts for reuse.
Apartments, condos, and mobile homes can recycle too
Kalamazoo offers a free multi-unit recycling program for the managers, owners, and occupants of residential properties with five or more units. The recycling program, which is funded by the Solid Waste Millage, offers a variety of container sizes and pick up schedules based on need. Please note that property owners are responsible for communicating to their tenants that recycling carts should not be contaminated with household trash. Continued contamination could result in charges to the property owner or termination of the service. If you are not currently participating in the City’s recycling program, you can find out how easy it is to begin by calling (269) 337-8215!
Disposal alternatives
Certain items that cannot be accepted by our recycling program may still be recycled, reused, or disposed of in other ways. Clothing, housewares, and other items may be donated to Goodwill, the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission/Kalamazoo Deacons Conference, the Salvation Army Store, or Nuway. The Kalamazoo County Household Hazardous Waste Center accepts a wide variety of items including batteries, electronics, used motor oil, chemicals, explosives, and many others. Best Buy and Goodwill also provide options for recycling electronics. Used, unmixed motor oil can also be taken to Pep Boys, AutoZone, Uncle Ed's Oil Shoppe. (Mixed oil can go to the HHW Center). Clean styrofoam packing peanuts may be taken to the Mail Room, Pak Mail or Jackson Pack N Ship. (Biodegradable packing peanuts dissolve in water.) Plastic grocery bags can be taken to most Wal-Mart, Target and Meijer stores. Tires are accepted by Discount Tire, Firestone, and Kzoo Tire Co. Propane tanks are accepted by Amerigas (larger size) or the HHW Center (smaller size). Please help to protect our environment by taking the time to safely and responsibly dispose of items.
Schupan and Sons will also accept and even pay for certain items including lead acid batteries, computers, (including R2 RIOS certification to ensure data is thoroughly erased), house wires, holiday lights, aluminum gutter and siding, and appliances.
When you shop
Buying products that are made from recycled materials is easy, considering the materials that you help collect at home and work are used again to manufacture every glass jar, every metal can, most cereal boxes, and most plastic shampoo and detergent bottles, and even a few high-quality and economically priced paper products. By collecting recyclables and then buying products made from your recyclables, you can make a real difference in conserving energy, reducing pollution, and supporting jobs.
Help keep our city clean
Bulk trash, garbage containers, recycling bins, recycling materials, or brush left or placed on the curb lawn outside of the designated time for collection could result in you being charged for the cost of its removal. Garbage containers (Herby Curby containers or recycling bins) may be placed at the curb "no earlier than 8:00 p.m. on the day prior to the scheduled collection, and these containers must be removed from the curbside (or street side if there is no curb) not later than 11:00 p.m. of the collection day" (Kalamazoo City Code of Ordinances, 15A-2(a)).
Solid Waste (quarterly trash or seasonal brush) deposited for public collection "shall not be deposited earlier than 7:00 a.m. of the day preceding the day of regularly scheduled monthly collection for the district in which such solid waste is deposited." (Kalamazoo Code of Ordinances, 31-21). Any solid waste, "which is not, for any reason, collected by the city or its authorized contractor on the day on which collection is actually performed in the district in which the solid waste is deposited, shall be removed from public view within two (2) days following completion of the regularly scheduled monthly collection for that district." (Section 31-22).
Violations of the above types can result in immediate corrective action being taken by the City without prior notice, with the expense for the corrective action being billed to the property owner of record (Section 22-4(f)). To report curb lawn violations, you may call Inspection Services at 337-8221. Questions or concerns regarding the City's monthly trash and recycling programs should be directed to 337-8215.