Burlington, WI Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Section 265-15 sets a preparation standard for each of the materials listed in § 265-11E through O. Aluminum and bimetal containers must be rinsed free of product residue before going into the designated recycling bin. Corrugated paper and other container board must be free of debris, flattened, stacked and tied at the curb or alley, and foam polystyrene packaging follows the same free-of-debris, stacked-and-tied rule. Glass containers need rinsing and the removal of caps, lids and neck rings before they go in the bin. Magazines, newspaper and office paper must be bagged or tied and stacked on top of the recycling bin rather than inside it.

Plastic and steel containers must be rinsed, with their caps and neck rings removed and discarded before they go in the bin, and waste tires are collected curbside for a special hauler charge billed directly to the resident. Owners of multiple-family dwellings and nonresidential properties carry parallel duties under §§ 265-16 and 265-17: provide adequate containers, tell tenants or occupants how to prepare each material, and deliver the collected material to a recycling facility. Once a material has been separated under these rules, § 265-18 makes it illegal to send it to a landfill or burn it at a solid waste treatment facility, with one exception: waste tires may still be burned for energy recovery.