What Can Be Recycled
The Environmental Management Department manages Charleston County's recycling and solid waste programs. The County's material recovery facility, the John L. Jencks Recycling Center, is located downtown at 13 Romney Street. Currently, this facility is transferring recyclable material out of county for processing and sale to remanufacturers.
Charleston County Environmental Management provides single stream recycling collection to single-family households, multi-family communities, schools, and underserved commercial businesses. With single stream recycling, also known as All-In-One Recycling, you can combine paper products, cardboard, plastic bottles & containers, aluminum and glass all together - there is no sorting required, which makes it easier for you to recycle more.
Recycle Right! Place the following items listed below in your blue recycling roll cart. Please put items loose in the cart, not in bags or boxes.
Paper
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Office paper
- Envelopes
- Junk mail/envelopes
- Greeting cards
- Catalogs
- Books/textbooks
- Coupons
- Posters
- Sticky notes
- Paper bags
- Wrapping paper
Plastic Bottles & Containers
- Water bottles
- Soda bottles
- Milk jugs
- Liquid containers
- Jars and tubs (yogurt, margarine tubs, etc.)
- Detergent and all-purpose cleaner bottles
- Soap and shampoo bottles
- Rigid plastic product packaging, such as clean rigid clamshell containers (Remove any plastic film or aluminum)
- Plastic cups
- Corrugated cardboard boxes
- Soda/beverage boxes
- Shoe boxes
- Gift boxes
- Clean food boxes (cereal boxes, microwave meals, boxes of rice, etc.)
- Paper towel rolls
- Paper egg cartons
Aluminum & Steel Cans
- Aluminum cans and caps/lids
- Steel and tin cans
- Empty aerosol (spray) cans
Glass Bottles & Jars
- Jars and caps (labels can be left on containers)
- Bottles and bottle caps (labels can be left on containers)
Keep the following items out of your recycling cart:
- Plastic bags (i.e. shopping bags, cereal bags)
- Plastic wrap (i.e. thin plastic food wrap or shrink wrapping/product packaging)
- styrofoam packaging or food containers
- household garbage
- shredded paper
- food waste
- yard waste
- cartons (i.e. juice boxes, chicken broth cartons)
- bulky plastic items (i.e. toys, hangers)
- batteries
- light bulbs
- electronics
- clothing and shoes
- construction debris (i.e. wood, insulation)
- rope-like items (i.e. garden hoses)
- medical waste (i.e. syringes)
- diapers or sanitary products
- propane tanks
- aluminum foil and trays
- motor oil and cooking oil
- paint
Why are these items not accepted?
Prohibited items will jam and/or damage automated machinery use to sort and bale recyclables.
For a list of how to properly dispose of common household items, please click here.
Collection Guidelines
Proper cart placement makes Charleston County's automated collection safer, cleaner, and more efficient.
- Place recycling at the curb by 7am on your recycling day, or the night before
- Set your cart at least 3 feet away from cars, mailboxes, and trees or shrubbery.
- Make sure the handles of the cart are facing your house.
- Only roll carts can be used for this program. Old 22-gallon recycling bins cannot be collected at the curb; feel free to use these bins for recycling stations around your home, or return them to a Charleston County Convenience Center.
- Please flatten cardboard boxes and place them in the cart. If you have additional cardboard that will not fit into the cart, break down the boxes and place them beside the cart. Please cut large boxes, like appliance boxes, down to 3 x 3 feet so that they will fit into the truck.
- If your household is consistently overfilling your provided cart, please contact the Recycling Center at (843)720-7111.
Before you recycle:
- Empty and rinse all containers to remove food residue.
- Flatten paperboard and corrugated cardboard.
Drop off these items at one of Charleston County's 9 Staffed Convenience Centers:
- Recyclables (listed above)
- Household hazardous waste
- Electronic waste
- Yard waste
- Tires
- Paint
- Motor oil & cooking oil
- Batteries (car batteries, household batteries, battery acid, NiCad batteries)
- Scrap metal
- Appliances
- Light Bulbs (CFL light bulbs, fluorescent tubes)
- Gasoline/Oil Mixtures
- Antifreeze
- Propane tanks (caps on propane tanks must be unscrewed and removed)
There are many recycling dropsite locations throughout the County. Please note these locations are un-manned. The following items are accepted at a recycling dropsite: all paper, cardboard, plastic bottles & containers, aluminum & steel cans and glass.
To view a list of convenience centers and dropsite locations, please click here.
