What can you recycle in Manatee County or Bradenton? Here’s the do’s and don’ts
Recycling trash and other disposable items varies by the area you live in.
In Manatee County, residents are tasked with a single-stream method to recycling, meaning it’s an all-in-one method. There’s no need to sort.
What’s recyclable and what’s not? Where do you get a bin and where do you need to place it? What days does recycling get picked up? How about compost bins?
Don’t fret, here’s a look at the answers to those questions and more in the Herald’s recycling guide for Manatee County:
What is recyclable in Manatee County?
There are various items that qualify as recyclable in Manatee County. They include the following:
- Newspaper, junk mail, shopping ads, windowed envelopes, magazines and books (paperback)
- Office and computer paper (all colors)
- Phone books, greeting cards, brown paper bags
- Fiberboard (cereal, crackers, frozen food and soda boxes)
- Cardboard (must be broken down and placed in your recycle cart)
- Glass bottles and jars (all colors)
- Aluminum and steel cans (soup and vegetable)
- Plastic bottles and containers
- Milk and juice cartons
Food and beverage containers should get rinsed before tossed into the recycling bin.
The following items cannot be recycled in the county:
- Garbage
- Yard waste
- Plastic bags
- Styrofoam
- Sandwich bags and shrink wrap
- Clothing hangers
- Batteries
- Water hoses
- Electronics
- Large plastic items such as pools, coolers or toys
- Household Hazardous Waste and E-Scrap
Bradenton rules differ from county
These items can be recycled in the Bradenton city limits:
- Aluminum cans
- Aluminum pie pans
- Any plastic numbered 1-5 & #7
- Brown paper bags
- Coffee cans
- Fiberboard (clean cereal, cracker, soda, tissue boxes)
- Junk mail
- Milk and juice cartons
- Newspaper
- Office paper and magazines (un-shredded)
- Phone books
- Plastics with recycle numbers 1-5 & 7 (#6 NOT
- accepted)
- Plastic window envelopes
- Shampoo bottles
- Shopping inserts
- Soda, milk and juice boxes
- Steel cans (soup/vegetable)
- Steel jar lids
- White and colored paper
- Windowed envelopes
- Yogurt containers
These items cannot be recycled in the city:
- Aluminum foil
- Aluminum siding
- Baking pans and deli trays
- Broken glass, paint cans, tin roofs
- Cellophane
- Ceramics, dishes, vases and pottery
- Clothes hangers
- Coffee pots
- Drinking glasses
- Eye glasses
- Flower pots
- Glass bottles
- Kitchen utensils & appliances
- Machines
- Paper plates
- Paper towels, gift wrap, food wrap
- Pizza boxes
- Plastic grocery bags (return to grocer)
- PVC or Styrofoam
- Shredded paper
- Tissue or tissue paper
- Tools and auto parts
- Toxic materials
- Toys, diapers
- Windows, crystal, mirrors and light bulbs
- Windshields
For more information, call 941-708-6340 or go to https://cityofbradenton.com/solidwaste
Where do you get a recycling bin?
Make sure to call the Manatee County Utilities Department’s customer service line at 941-792-8811 or email utilitiescustomerservice@mymanatee.org for information on getting the all-in-one streaming recycling bin. Once in possession at your residence, place it near the street with the arrows facing the road.
Leave 3 feet of space in all directions around the recycling bin and have it only filled with recyclable items listed above. Do not place yard trimmings or trash in the bin.
You can also discard your recycled items at drop-off locations. For residential use only, here’s the list of drop-off locations:
- GT Bray Park, 5502 33rd Avenue Drive West, Bradenton
- Braden River Park, 5201 51st Street East, Bradenton
- Blackstone Park, 2112 14th Avenue West, Palmetto
- Lakewood Ranch Park, 5350 Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, Bradenton
- Bufalo Creek Park, 7550 69th Street East, Palmetto
- Bayfront Park, 310 North Bay Boulevard, Anna Maria
- Manatee Public Beach, 4000 Gulf Drive, Holmes Beach
- Coquina Beach, 2650 Gulf Drive South, Bradenton Beach
- Bennett Park, 400 Cyprus Creek Boulevard, Bradenton
- Palma Sola Park, 7915 40th Avenue West, Bradenton
- Landfill, 3333 Lena Road, Bradenton
To request a bin in Bradenton, please contact the Solid Waste Division at 941-708-6340.
When does recycling get picked up?
It varies by your location, but the county collection hours range from from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, with the exceptions of the following holidays: New Year’s Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Collections falling on those holidays will be delayed by one day, with collections scheduled for a Thursday holiday such as Thanksgiving is delayed until Friday and Friday’s pick-up is delayed until Saturday. And normal collection days resume the next Monday.
Go to https://www.mymanatee.org/residents/information to find your pickup day in Manatee County.
For City of Bradenton residents, contact the solid waste division at 941-708-6340 for your pickup day.
How about compost bins and other types of garbage?
Compost bins have limited supplies through the county, but are available at the UF/IFAS Manatee County Extension Office in Palmetto for $60.
You must make an appointment to purchase a compost bin, which only accepts payments of cash or check. Call 941-722-4524 Ext. 1825 for more information.
For directions on handling appliances, yard waste, garbage, batteries and other non-recyclable items, visit the county’s utilities department website for garbage and trash here.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 12:14 PM.
