Irving, TX Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 33-1 of the Irving Code of Ordinances defines curbside recycling collection as a service provided to residential households for the collecting and disposal of recyclable materials, as defined in the current recycling materials processing contract, with the current list published on the city's website rather than fixed in the ordinance text. The same section defines contamination broadly: any material not accepted in curbside recycling, including anything deemed hazardous, radioactive, volatile, corrosive, highly flammable, explosive, biomedical, infectious, biohazardous, toxic or hazardous waste as defined by applicable state law, plus a named list of everyday contaminants: hanging file folders, copy paper wrappers, carbon paper, waxed cartons, all types of batteries, bubble wrap, kitchen waste, hard cover books, thermal fax paper, all types of Styrofoam, and plastic bags.

1(b), contaminated recycling is not collected at all, and the ordinance directs residents to the city's website for the current, changeable list of accepted recyclable items rather than freezing that list into the code. Recyclables must be set out in the city's blue recycling bag under Section 33-7, not mixed loose into a garbage can or left as loose cardboard; broken-down cardboard goes under a recycling bag to be picked up as recycling under Section 33-13(3). Solid Waste Services enforces the standard on the same day the crew passes; a contaminated bag is simply skipped rather than opened and sorted curbside.

Because the accepted-materials list is tied to the city's current processing contract rather than printed in the chapter, residents should confirm an item's status online before bagging it, since materials once recyclable can be reclassified as contamination without a corresponding ordinance amendment.