Bloomington, IN Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Section 6.04.020 requires yard waste, recyclables and other solid waste to be kept separated from one another at the curb; mixing any of the three is a chapter violation subject to the fines in § 6.04.100, and the sanitation division simply will not collect items set out mixed together. Because contamination is the city's chief recycling problem, § 6.04.040(d) puts the department of public works, subject to board of public works approval, in charge of publishing an annual list of exactly which paper products, metal cans, glass containers and plastic containers qualify as recyclable in Bloomington, a list the department can revise as recycling markets shift.

The same subsection sets out the physical prep rules that apply to whatever is on that list: paper products must be clean and dry before they go in the cart, and metal cans, glass containers and plastic containers must be clean, rinsed out, and have their lids removed. Combined with the cart rules in § 6.04.040(c), residents must use a city-supplied sixty-four or ninety-six gallon cart, keep items loose rather than bagged, and close the lid flush against the container facing the street, or the sanitation division leaves the cart at the curb. Materials such as construction debris, tires, automobile parts and electronics such as televisions and computer equipment are excluded from residential collection entirely under the appliance and refuse definitions in § 6.04.010, and hazardous items like batteries, paints and solvents may never go in a recycling or refuse cart under § 6.04.080(g).