New Britain, CT Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Required items
- Cardboard, glass, leaves, metal cans, newspaper, office paper
- Collector insurance
- At least $350,000, Sec. 11-74
- Registration deadline
- Collectors register annually before July 1
- First-offense penalty
- Written warning, Sec. 11-85
- Repeat fine
- Up to $200 per violation for residents
- Enforcing agency
- Department of Public Works
Summary
New Britain requires every residential generator to separate designated recyclables, including cardboard, glass containers, leaves, metal containers, newspapers and office paper, from the rest of the trash. Code of Ordinances Sec. 11-79 requires those materials to be placed in containers at the curb or a designated location on the schedule the city publishes, with enforcement running through the director of public works.
(a)Any person who generates solid waste from residential property shall separate from the other solid waste items designated for recycling by the commissioner of environmental protection.(b)Notwithstanding subsection (a), the following items shall be separated from other solid waste generated from residential property and recycled:(1)Cardboard;(2)Glass, food and beverage containers;(3)Leaves;(4)Metal food and beverage containers;(5)Newspapers;(6)Office paper; and(c)All residential recyclable solid waste shall be separated by the generator and placed in containers or packaged for collection at the curb or designated location for solid waste pick-up in a manner required by this article, and any other ordinances of the city pertaining to solid waste.(d)The residential recyclables set forth in subsection (b) shall be segregated and placed out for collection by the collector according to collection schedules designated and published by the city or shall be disposed of at sites designated and published by the city.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 11-79 of the Code of Ordinances sets the core curbside recycling requirement for residential property in New Britain. Subsection (a) requires anyone generating solid waste from residential property to separate out items designated for recycling by the state commissioner of environmental protection, and subsection (b) lists six categories that must be separated and recycled: cardboard, glass food and beverage containers, leaves, metal food and beverage containers, newspapers and office paper. Subsection (c) requires the separated recyclables to be placed in containers or packaged for curbside pickup or a designated drop-off location, and subsection (d) ties the actual pickup to collection schedules the city designates and publishes, rather than a fixed citywide day.
A parallel section, Sec. 11-80, extends the same separation duty to non-residential generators and adds storage batteries, waste oil, scrap metal, paint and mattresses to the list. The director of public works administers the program: Sec. 11-73 requires anyone operating as a collector in the city to register in advance, Sec. 11-74 sets an annual registration cycle running through June 30 with proof of at least three hundred fifty thousand dollars of insurance, and Sec. 11-76 lets the director suspend a collector's registration for up to one hundred eighty days per violation, or revoke it permanently for repeated or willful violations.
Households that skip the separation requirement are not exempt from enforcement: Sec. 11-85 authorizes the director of public works to issue warning notices and impose fines that escalate with repeated noncompliance.
Violations & Fines
A resident who fails to source-separate the designated recyclables listed in Sec. 11-79 gets a written warning for a first offense, fifty dollars for a second offense, and up to two hundred dollars for each violation after that under Sec. 11-85. Commercial and nonresidential establishments face steeper fines, up to five hundred dollars per repeat violation, and collectors who knowingly mix recyclables with trash face civil penalties of one thousand dollars rising to five thousand dollars for later violations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What has to be recycled from a New Britain home?
Where do New Britain recyclables get picked up?
Can any hauler pick up recyclables in New Britain?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Britain
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