ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DPW Home DEPARTMENT MENU Environmental Services DPW Links Blue Bin Program Aims to Make Recycling Easier The City of Pittsburgh has launched a program to distribute 100,000+ blue recycling bins to residents and become bag free by 2023. The goal is to make recycling easier for residents and reduce recycling contamination. Each residence serviced by the Bureau of Environmental Services will receive a 32-gallon blue recycling bin with a tight-fitting lid attached and an information packet. All recycling bins will be manufactured in Pennsylvania by The Rehrig-Pacific Company. Blue Bin Distribution Schedule The program started in the fall of 2020 and will run through fall 2022. Residents will receive a mailer two weeks before receiving a blue bin. All single-family homes, duplexes, and apartments with five units or less are automatically eligible for a new recycling container through this program. Find out approximately when you will receive a blue bin: Neighborhood Season Year Recycling Contamination, and Why It Matters? One of the biggest challenges facing recycling right now is contamination by wishful recycling or “wish-cycling”. This happens when non-recyclable objects are placed in the recycling bin with the wish it will be recycled. Additionally, recycling contamination occurs when food residue, liquids, and unacceptable materials (such as batteries, sharps, extra plastic bags, food waste, and greasy pizza boxes), are placed into the recycling can. Contaminants not only degrade the materials, boosting costs, but they can potentially cause harm to the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and city employees. Bag Free in 2023 The City of Pittsburgh is making a significant shift away from a bag-based collection program. While the blue plastic bag has long been a part of the Pittsburgh recycling collection system, the city must stop packaging recyclables in plastic bags. Plastic bags can degrade recyclables making the materials tough to sort when delivered to the MRF. CITY INFORMATION City Directory Open Gov Portal Policies Press Releases Website Release Notes Accessibility POPULAR SERVICES 311 Contract Bids Dog Licenses Online Shelter Permit Tax Info OneStopPGH CITY HALL Boards, Authorities, Commissions City Clerk's Office City Council Controller's Office Mayor's Office Public Safety CONNECT WITH US Facebook Twitter YouTube Social Media Hub City of Pittsburgh City-County Building, 414 Grant St, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Translate English Arabic Chinese Croatian French German Hindi Italian Japanese Korean Portuguese Russian Spanish Hebrew Ukrainian Vietnamese Armenian Latin Nepali Sudanese