Auburn, AL Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

The City of Auburn operates a single-stream recycling program, meaning residents place all accepted recyclables together in one blue recycling cart rather than pre-sorting them. Participation is voluntary and available to current City residential solid waste customers, who request a cart through the city's Recycle Request Form; the service is included for residential customers at no separate curbside cost beyond standard solid waste service. Accepted curbside materials include: plastics #1 through #7 (rinsed and clean, no plastic bags or plastic straws), aluminum cans, steel and tin cans, newspaper, flattened cardboard, magazines, and mixed office paper. Several items are not accepted in the curbside blue cart: plastic bags, plastic straws, hard or flexible plastic signs, and soiled or wet newspaper. Glass is not accepted in curbside recycling but may be taken to a separate drop-off location. Recycling is collected on the same day as garbage, so residents set both out together. Placement follows the cart rules: the blue cart should be set 'a few feet away from the trash and garbage and within three (3) feet from the roadway,' put out the night before or no later than 6 a.m. on collection day. Because the program is single-stream and voluntary, there is no penalty for non-participation, but contamination—putting non-recyclables, plastic bags, or unrinsed containers in the cart—can cause loads to be rejected. Auburn encourages rinsing containers and flattening cardboard to keep recyclables clean and reduce contamination.