Recycling in Covington, Kentucky, is managed through a city contract for residential curbside service. The primary program provides single-stream collection for common household recyclables, simplifying the process for most residents. Understanding the specific materials accepted is important for preventing contamination and ensuring proper processing. The city’s residential program is supplemented by Can Dew Recycling, a local business focusing on scrap metal and other high-value materials.
What Materials Are Accepted
The city’s official residential program accepts materials common in single-stream systems, including paper, cardboard, plastics, and metals. Acceptable paper items include newspapers, magazines, office paper, and flattened cardboard boxes. Plastic recycling focuses on bottles, jugs, and tubs, typically made from plastic resins #1 and #2.
Metal recycling is limited to aluminum and steel food and beverage cans, which must be emptied and rinsed before being placed in the cart. The program strictly excludes common contaminants that disrupt sorting, such as glass, plastic bags, Styrofoam, and plastic clamshell containers.
The city participates in the Hefty ReNew program, allowing residents to recycle difficult-to-process items like foam take-out containers and plastic utensils. Residents purchase a specific orange bag, collect these items, and place the sealed bag directly into the curbside cart. This separate collection method helps divert low-value plastics from the landfill while maintaining the quality of the main recycling stream.
Residential Collection Methods
Residential recycling utilizes a single-stream curbside collection service provided at no extra charge to residents with a solid waste account. Each household receives a green, wheeled recycling cart, typically 65 gallons in size, for all accepted materials. Single-stream allows all recyclable items to be placed together in the cart without separation.
Collection occurs once a week on the same day as the household’s regular trash pickup. Preparation is important to maintain the efficiency of the sorting process. All containers, including metal cans and plastic bottles, must be emptied and rinsed before being placed in the cart.
Cardboard boxes must be flattened to maximize space and prevent jamming during collection. Plastic lids should be reattached to bottles and jugs, while metal lids should be placed loose in the cart.
How to Start Service or Find Locations
To initiate curbside recycling service or address cart issues, residents must contact the city’s contracted service provider. New residents can schedule service by calling Rumpke Waste & Recycling directly. Rumpke manages the distribution of the city-issued green recycling carts and assists with requests for cart repair or replacement.
For specialized recycling, Can Dew Recycling operates a facility in Covington primarily as a scrap metal yard. This facility accepts a wide range of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, including copper, brass, stainless steel, aluminum siding, radiators, and vehicle batteries, often paying cash for these materials.
Can Dew Recycling is located on Russell Street and is used for drop-off services, particularly for large or bulk quantities of metal not suitable for the residential curbside program. A valid identification is required for most transactions at the scrap yard, except for aluminum cans.