If you have bag collection in your alley, your service point of collection is being moved from the alley to curb as an operational efficiency to prevent property damage in alleys too narrow to be served with roll carts, or alleys with obstructions or overgrowth of vegetation, trees or shrubbery. Examples of serviceable and non-serviceable alleys can be found here.

•  Examples of obstructions include: fences, trees, concrete pads, utility meters, walls, and other objects which can not be relocated or easily abated through cutting or trimming.

•  Often we find that while some portion of the alleyway may be clear, obstructions and/or overgrowth exist in other areas of the same alley and collection route. In these cases, all of the households along that route may have a service location change, even if one particular section or block of the alley looks “wide enough.”

In order to maintain proper sanitary conditions, bagged waste in alleys will no longer be allowed in the OneDAY weekly collection program. A week is too long for bagged waste to be uncollected – and may lead to a public health hazard. So, all waste will be collected in city-issued garbage roll carts.

It is important to note that this change goes into effect March 1, 2010.

In February, the Sanitation Services department will deliver a gray garbage roll cart to your home for use beginning in March. Until then, please continue to place your items for collection in garbage bags at your usual collection point.

After March 1, the city will no longer collect bagged garbage from your alley. Your garbage will be picked up in the garbage cart from the curb in front of your home.

Yes! The City will collect your recyclables and garbage once-weekly on the same day.

Yes, you can; however, you probably won’t need it. But if you do, just visit the City’s website or call 3-1-1. There is a $10.54 per month fee for each additional garbage roll cart.

You won’t need a second cart now that we’ve increased the frequency of collection to once weekly. You can however, supplement Big Blue with the use of blue/clear translucent bags – Just fill them and set them next to your blue cart.

For most households, the service location (at the curb or in the alley) will not change with the new collection schedule. In some neighborhoods, the alleys are too narrow for the roll carts – and your service location will move to the street curb. You’ll receive ample notice of any change.

Just about everything! Think of these four primary types: PAPER, PLASTIC, METAL, and GLASS.

All of the following items may be placed (without sorting) in your blue cart or blue bag(s):

Paper products: newspapers and inserts, magazines, catalogs, telephone books, mixed office paper, mail and junk mail.

Cardboard: cardboard boxes, chipboard (like cereal and tissue boxes). Flatten all boxes to get more use of your cart.

Plastic Containers: bottles (with or without caps), jars, containers with the triangle label symbol #1, 2,3,4,5, 6 and 7 (please rinse!). You'll find the plastics number in a triangle on the base of the container.

Metals: Containers made of steel, tin, and aluminum (please rinse!) Used aerosol (non-hazardous) cans are ok, too. Sorry, no scrap metal pieces.

Glass: unbroken bottles and jars of any color (please rinse!). Lids are ok.

We’ve just added: Clear take-out food containers (please rinse!).

No. All of your recyclables may go together into your roll cart or bags. You may even bag your recyclables (use any translucent bag) before placing them into your blue roll cart, if you wish.

You may register by calling the City's non-emergency number, 3-1-1, or by signing up at the City's website. The City of Dallas will deliver your cart within 7 days of request.

You may put additional recyclables into blue or clear bags and place them next to the blue recycling cart. Blue bags are available (at no charge) at all City libraries and recreation centers, or call 3-1-1 if you are unable to locate them.

Yes. If your recycling day falls on a holiday, your makeup date is shaded and the date is circled on the recycling collection calendar schedule or you can call 3-1-1 to obtain your recycling make-up date. Additionally, the City Sanitation Services Department sent a recycling collection calendar and other pertinent information to all affected residential customers.

You may call 3-1-1 or (214) 670-4475 to request a replacement cart or to report repairs needed.

Please don't put the following items in your blue cart or blue bags:

Food waste
Containers stained with food
Light bulbs (see below)
Wet paper products
Styrofoam (see below)
Plastic grocery bags (see below)
Waxed paper or cardboard
Batteries (see below)
Electronics (see below)
Plate glass (windows or doors)
Coat hangers (see below)
Yard waste (grass trimmings, branches, leaves). Please leave these items for the once monthly brush/bulky collection or consider composting!

Styrofoam —   The City now accepts clear take-out food containers ONLY. The City of Dallas does not accept white Styrofoam food or drink containers, packing Styrofoam or peanuts. The packing/peanuts can be taken to various parcel/shipping businesses for re-use or recycling or placed in your gray garbage roll cart for disposal.

Electronics — The City conducts free E-Waste recycling collection events four (4) times a year. The dates and locations can be found on our website. E-Waste is also accepted during regular operating hours at the Home Chemical Collection Center (HC3) located at 11234 Plano Road. The website is: http://dallascityhall.com/sanitation/home_chemical.html.

Batteries — Alkaline batteries may be placed in your garbage container. Rechargeable batteries may be taken to various retailers such as Radio Shack, Lowe’s and Home Depot for recycling.

Metal Coat Hangers — Currently, the City does not accept coat hangers for recycling. Some local dry cleaners will recycle them. Or bring them to the City’s free quarterly recycling roundups. The dates and locations can be found on our website. The website is: http://dallascityhall.com/sanitation/sanitation.html.

Plastic Grocery Bags — The film plastic used for grocery bags and newspaper sleeves (among many other uses) is not recyclable by our processor at this time. However, many grocery stores will take back your grocery bags or you can reuse them yourself. We hope to add this to our list of recyclables in the future.

Items that can be taken to the Home Chemical Collection Center (HC3):

E-Waste Items:Computer equipment (hard-drives, monitors, mouse, modems, printers, etc), and cell phones.
Paint: Both water-based (Latex) and oil-based paint
Light Bulbs: All types can be taken at the Center. Compact Florescent Light Bulbs (CFLs): If you elect to dispose of these, please place the CFL bulb into two plastic bags and tie them to seal before putting in the garbage cart. For standard incandescent bulbs, please place in plastic bag for safer handling, and then into regular garbage.
Hazardous Waste Material: such as chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, cleaners, polishers, etc.

Yes. If your OneDAY falls on a holiday when the City isn’t picking up garbage and recycling, your makeup date is shaded and the date is circled on the recycling collection calendar schedule or you can call 3-1-1 to find out your make-up date.

In 2010, there are only two days that the City won’t be picking up garbage and recycling: Thursday, Nov. 24 and Friday, Dec. 24. During those two weeks, affected residents should set their items out for collection on WEDNESDAY instead.

We have about 100 drop-off sites for the convenience of our multi-family residents. Call 3-1-1 or visit the website for more information. Please let us know if your facility wants to have recycling on their property by contacting us at 214-671-8065.

For any questions or concerns, you may contact the City of Dallas "Recycle Line" 214.670.4475 or visit the City of Dallas’ website: www.dallascityhall.com.

Bring your household hazardous waste to:

Home Chemical Collection Center
11234 Plano Road, Dallas, TX 75243

Bring proof of residency, driver’s license and a water or utility bill showing address.

Read more details...

Dallas residents are appreciating the ease and convenience of the program. While some are experiencing a slight adjustment phase, overwhelming response has been positive. Here’s a sample of what folks have been saying:

“I find that the ratio of trash is about 75 recyclables to 25 percent or less of true trash. I find that the once a week pickup is more than adequate. I myself (living alone) tend to put out both bins about one a month as the true trash does not accumulate (the gray container usually has only one partially filled bag while the blue recycling bin takes about 3 weeks plus to fill up with newspaper and other paper products (that tends not to be offensive to the sense of smell).” David T.

“We've been recycling for some time now. It works out well for us with a once a week pick-up for both trash and recyclable stuff. We recommend it for everyone. We all need to recycle more. We recycle paper, magazines, bottles, cans, cardboard of all types including that which food comes in like cokes and cereal and we recycle lots of plastic stuff. Thanks for offering the services.” Tom S.