Tonawanda, NY Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Chapter 181 defines recyclable material broadly as anything the Town specifies for collection under the recycling regulations, including but not limited to cans, glass containers, newspaper and plastic. Section 181-4B then sets the household prep rules: newspaper must go into paper bags strong enough to hold it, cardboard boxes must be disassembled and flattened before being set out, and cans, glass containers and plastic containers must be rinsed clean of their original contents, with caps and rims removed from glass. Subsection (4) closes the loophole by barring any material other than properly prepared recyclable material from being placed in a recycling tote at all, so contaminated or unprepared material is treated as a violation of the chapter rather than simply left for pickup.

These totes remain Town property under Section 181-3.2 even after delivery to a household, and once a resident lawfully sets recyclables out for collection, Section 181-11 makes that material the Town's property for the purposes of the program, though the Superintendent of Highways can exempt items with no economic market from that Town ownership. Residents using a private hauler follow the same separation categories under Section 181-7A, and every private collector licensed by the Town must accept and haul the recyclables its Town customers generate under Section 181-7B.

Failure to prepare recyclables as required exposes the owner or occupant to the graduated penalty schedule in Section 181-22, running from a written warning to a $250 fine.