Rigid Plastics now Accepted at the Howard County Landfill

Howard County residents may now recycle many new types of plastic material at the Alpha Ridge Landfill Resident’s Convenience Center. Alpha Ridge Landfill is located at 2350 Marriottsville Road, Marriottsville, and is open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Howard County is the first County in Maryland to offer rigid plastic recycling.

Acceptable Plastics
The types of plastics that will be accepted include (but are not limited to):

• Plastic toys (including playhouses and swimming pools)
• Plastic buckets (including ones with metal handles),
• Plastic milk/soda crates
• Plastic laundry baskets
• Plastic lawn furniture
• Plastic coolers
• Plastic totes and sweater boxes
• Plastic drums
• Plastic pet carriers
• Plastic flower pots and trays (clean, no soil plant material)
• Plastic water bottles (five gallon or larger)
• Plastic garbage cans
• Plastic recycling bins
• Plastic shelving
• Plastic automotive parts (bed liners, bumpers, grills, etc.)
• Plastic pallets
• Plastic drinking cups and lids
• Plastic stretch film
• Plastic grocery bags (bags of bags)

EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 2008 - These mixed rigid plastics will NOW be collected curbside from residences provided they are under 4 feet in length, less than 4 inches in diameter and under 40 pounds.

Unacceptable Plastics
The types of plastics that cannot be accepted include:

• PVC pipe/tubing
• Vinyl siding
• Styrofoam or polystyrene
• Plastic medical waste
• Plastics that have been contaminated by petroleum products and/or hazardous waste

Residents can place these rigid plastics into a large roll-off similar to the one that is currently used to collect computers. The roll-off is marked with a large sign that reads “Rigid Plastic.” If there is any question about whether a plastic object is recyclable or not, please check with the attendant at the guardhouse or call (410) 313-6444.

These rigid plastics may not be placed into the compactors that are used to collect single-stream recycling material.

"New technological advances, combined with the rising petroleum prices have opened up new markets for these rigid plastic items,” according to Alan Wilcom, Chief of Howard County’s Recycling Division. “We hope that residents will take advantage of this new recycling opportunity.”