FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS

We’re so sorry for the service blip! If your carts were out on time but we missed them, we’ll get it fixed pronto. Get in touch and let us know what happened. In cases where you forget to put out your trash—it happens to the best of us!—a return-trip charge might be added to your bill.

Who wants to think about trash pickups while sipping a pina colada? If you’ll be away for two or more consecutive weeks, call us up before you go (at least 24 hours in advance, please!) and we’ll issue you a credit.

We’re delighted you asked! You can fill up your yard debris cart with lawn clippings, leaves, brush, tree trimmings, and branches. Plus, toss in your food scraps—if you can eat it, we can compost it!

What can’t go in the cart? Plastic, garbage, dirt, rocks, sod, lumber and, pet waste (sorry, Fido!). Dig into complete details in our yard debris and food waste guide.

Cleanup containers can handle all the trash you’d usually chuck into your blue cart! Get the full breakdown in our trash guide.

Sorting out recyclables from throw-out-ables can get a little tricky. Here’s a handy list of items that commonly confuse our customers. These all belong in the trash or require special handling:

• Garden: flowers, plants, yard debris, bird seed, dirt, weed cover (all that goes in your gray yard debris cart!)
• Home improvement: barbecue grills, wood, drywall, air conditioner filters, insulation, paint cans, oil, house siding, rags, broom handles, air mattresses, carpets, padding, rugs (if you’re DIYing, you might want a temporary cleanup container)
• Household: napkins, furniture, window blinds, screens, pillows, shower curtains, towels, welcome mats, blankets, sheets
• Personal items: backpacks, clothing, shoes, stuffed animals, toys (remember to donate anything that has life left in it)
• Cleaning supplies: dryer sheets, lint, vacuum bags, sponges
• Electronics: satellite dishes, power strips, neon lights, electronics, car speakers
• Miscellaneous: full bottles of soda, ash trays/ashes/cigarettes, diapers, styrofoam, quarts of oil, bags of trash, cat box/litter, vinyl bags, pottery, porcelain, human & animal hair
• Food: Put those compostable scraps in the gray cart, not the recycling!
• Certain plastics: If it’s not a clear plastic beverage container or milk jug, leave it out—we can’t accept other plastics like jugs, tubs, or other containers of any kind

For more instructions and a detailed list of items that can and cannot be recycled, check out the recycling guide.

While the red bin can hold glass and motor oil (tightly sealed!), please don’t chuck in broken glass, ceramic dishes, mirrors, light bulbs, antifreeze, solvents, gasoline, or cooking oils. Need help getting rid of those items? Give us a call.

For more instructions and a detailed list of items that can and cannot be recycled, check out the recycling guide.

Your yard debris and food waste cart is a composting powerhouse — but it does have limits. Keep these items out to avoid contamination:

• Pet waste — doggy droppings and kitty litter belong in the trash
• Plastic of any kind, including plastic bags
• Lumber and wood products
• Dirt, rocks, and sod
• Liquids of any kind — keep your cart dry
• Rubber objects and paper products
• "Compostable" serviceware — despite the label, these items can't be processed in our composting stream
• Oversized yard debris — logs, stumps, root wads, and branches over three feet long or four inches in diameter can't go in the cart (give us a call for options)
• Poisonous vegetation

The good news? Just about everything else — all food scraps, lawn clippings, leaves, branches (under 3 feet long and 4 inches in diameter), and yard trimmings — is fair game. If you can eat it, we can compost it! For the full breakdown, check out our Yard Debris & Food Waste Guide.

Just as the name implies—food! Toss in your peels, bones, shells, and any other food scraps. You can even add weeds, brush, tree trimmings, and other plant matter you clear away from your building.

Note that compostable serviceware products and food-soiled paper cannot be placed in your compost container—organic materials only, please. The only exception is compostable bags and liners, as long as they’re certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI).

Get full details on the City of Eugene’s Love Food not Waste Program here. And help your staff keep the compost coming by hanging up this handy poster all about the program—including bin dos and don’ts.

Your big green cart can hold a heap of squeaky-clean mixed recyclables, including:

• milk jugs and clear plastic beverage bottles
• tin cans and aluminum
• newspapers, junk mail, and magazines
• flattened cardboard

For the complete list, check out our handy recycling guide.

That little red bin is for clean glass and sealed-tight containers of car fluids (in unbreakable one-gallon containers with a tight screw-on lid). Read all about it in our handy recycling guide.

We have special trucks equipped to handle your red-bin recyclables, so don’t be surprised when we visit twice on recycling day!

Reusing is always the first line of defense when getting rid of rubbish. We look for the most ecologically sound option for every disposal, and will donate reusable items whenever possible. If you’d like to find a place to donate your stuff instead of having us haul it, check out our recycling guide for local organizations.

A cubic yard is a measure of volume—3'x3'x3'. That’s roughly the size of a clothes dryer. We use cubic yards to describe how much our large containers can hold.