Waco, TX Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Under Sec. 21-25(a)-(b) of the Waco Code of Ordinances, each single-family or duplex service unit is issued up to two blue 95-gallon recycling carts at no extra charge, with additional carts available for a fee; multifamily properties may receive carts at the solid waste director's discretion. Subsection (e) limits acceptable material to three categories: paper (cardboard, catalogs, envelopes, junk mail, magazines, newspapers, office paper, paperback books, paper bags, phone books), metals (aluminum drink cans, cleaned aluminum baking tins, steel or tin food cans and lids), and plastics bearing only the #1 or #2 recycling symbol on bottles, cups and jars.

Glass is expressly excluded from curbside pickup under subsection (f); residents must haul glass containers to the citizens' collection station instead. Subsection (g) lists seventeen categories of prohibited material, including aluminum foil, drink boxes and straws, gift wrap, greeting cards, hardcover books, light bulbs, paper milk and juice cartons, hazardous-material containers, plastics numbered #3 through #7 (including bags and film), pizza boxes, polystyrene foam, toys, waxed paper, garbage and yard waste. The solid waste director retains authority under subsection (h) to add or remove accepted materials as recycling markets shift, so the list can change without a council vote.

Subsection (m) makes it unlawful to place prohibited material in a recycling cart, or to let such material remain on a resident's property once set out in violation of the section. A special one-time pickup for move-in cardboard is available within two months of opening a new water account under subsection (i), covering ten or more flattened boxes plus up to six boxes of packing paper.