Ready, Set, Recycle!
Recycling is critical to preservation of the environment, and one of the easiest things to teach your children. It’s also another opportunity to make helping the planet an enjoyable activity for them. The first thing is to make sure your kids know all of the recyclable materials — show them which kinds of glass and metals should be recycled, remind them when they sip from a tin can or when you’re reading a newspaper or opening a cardboard box that those are all things that need to be recycled. Once they can identify what to recycle, you can make it fun for them to do it, offering ‘Recycling Rewards’ for each item they drop into the recycle bin, or encouraging older kids to volunteer in clean litter community groups that recycle trash found on the roadside. If doing their part for the earth is integral to their growth and development as a child or teenager, they’ll make time for environmental efforts throughout their life. But remember that simply tossing recyclables into the can is only one aspect — demonstrating how to reuse paper or draw and color on the back is also important.
Packing a Waste Free Lunch for School and Work
Do pack: 
- Reusable fabric lunch bags or lunch containers
- Sandwiches in reusable wraps, bags or containers
- Drinks and soups in reusable containers, such as a thermos, or recyclable containers, such as cans or glass bottles
- Snacks purchased in bulk and packed in reusable containers or bags
- Whole fruits without packaging
- Cloth napkins
- Stainless steel or bamboo reusable utensils
Don’t pack:
- Paper lunch bags
- Plastic baggies that are not reusable
- Individually- wrapped snacks, meals or desserts
- Juice boxes
- Disposable forks and spoons
- Disposable straws
- Paper napkins
Recycling in Rock Hill
Residential recycling is collected in blue bins at the curb on the same day as residential garbage. Residential recycling is collected on the same day as garbage. Recyclable material is reusable material not including garbage, refuse, or hazardous materials. Please place the blue collection bins at least three feet away from the garbage container to avoid damage by the other collection vehicles. Recyclables should be placed at the curb on the same schedule as the garbage containers.
Bins must be placed at the curb no sooner than noon the day before collections and removed from the curb by 7:00 am the day after collections. Please place the bins at least three feet away from the roll carts to avoid damage by the collection vehicles. Additional bins are available at no extra charge. A set of wheels and a handle for your recycling bin are available for $12.00. Contact Customer Service at 803/325-2500 for either additional bins or handles and wheels.
Recycling is also available at apartment complexes serviced by the City. If the dumpsters have a City of Rock Hill logo, contact Larry Bigham, Commercial Recycling Supervisor, at 803/329-5543 for more information.
The items collected for recycling include:
- aluminum and steel cans (push the lids inside the cans)
- aluminum foil
- plastic soda, detergent, and shampoo bottles
- plastic motor oil bottles (emptied with the lids in place)
- plastic milk jugs
- all plastics labeled #1 through #7
- glass bottles and jars (all colors)
- newspaper (tied securely in bags)
- magazines and junk mail (tied securely in bags)
- chipboard (cereal boxes, tissue boxes, cracker boxes, shoe boxes, cardboard tubes from paper towels, etc.)
- plastic bags (grocery and all other clean, dry plastic bags; remove all receipts and place into one bag)
Please rinse all containers and remove lids from glass and plastic containers (except motor oil bottles).
Currently there is no curbside collection for corrugated cardboard. All corrugated materials should be flattened and taken to red dumpsters at City fire stations for recycling. A listing of the fire station locations is available at the Rock Hill Fire Department website. Any cardboard left at the curb will be collected by curbside trash crews and taken to the York County Landfill for disposal.
Used motor oil (recycle-it’s the law!) is being recycled at the City Garage located at 349 Columbia Avenue. Please bring the oil to garage door number four on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM. The used motor oil must be free of other liquids and contaminants.
Styrofoam materials cannot be recycled. Please bag all styrofoam and place in the rollcart for disposal.
Additional materials can be taken to one of the York County Convenience Centers for recycling including used motor oil, automobile batteries, and corrugated cardboard. Please refer to the York County website for a map of the convenience center locations www.yorkcountygov.com/pubworks/conveniencecenters.
Household batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, and nine-volt) may be taken to the Rock Hill Best Buy, Radio Shack at Winthrop Commons, Durango Bagel and Coffee Shop, or the lobby at the City’s Operations Center on Columbia Avenue. Place batteries in the green bucket.
