Helping you recycle
hard-to-recycle
items
ON-DEMAND COLLECTION
FROM YOUR DOORSTEP
ON YOUR SCHEDULE
Recycle more from your doorstep
Recycle up to 24 waste streams, from all plastic packaging to milk and juice cartons, coffee capsules, and more. Buy individual bags with on-demand pickups to fit your needs.
We offer this service to anyone in our service area. See our map below.
After we collect your items in their Zero Waste Bag, we send them to TerraCycle for recycling. TerraCycle guarantees that they recycle all compliant materials that are collected. The items are received by material recovery partners, where they are sorted into individual material components. Each material is then recycled into a raw format that can be used to make new products.
How it works
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the appropriate bag size for the materials you want to recycle.
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a Zero Waste Bag with your next compost swapout or by mail.
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with hard-to-recycle materials and mark the appropriate checkbox on the front of your bag. Make sure that your bag can be sealed closed.
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your items in their Zero Waste Bags for no fee with your next compost swapout or within the next two weeks. If you don’t already compost with us, we collect your bags for a $15 fee. We deliver them to TerraCycle for recycling.
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your items into raw materials to be re-used in manufacturing something new.
Accepted items
IMPORTANT: Only use one category of item per bag!
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Collect with Large or Extra Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Air packaging, bubble wrap, padded envelopes or mailers, cereal bag liners, food storage & takeout containers, candy & snack wrappers, plastic shopping bags, Ziploc® bags, plastic wrap, shrink wrap
Not accepted: Glass, wood, foamed plastics, biodegradable plastics, PLA
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Rolling paper, ash, cigarette filters, all parts of extinguished cigarettes, cigar stubs, outer plastic packaging, inner foil packaging
Not accepted: Cardboard packaging, cigarette boxes
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Coffee capsules, pods, K-Cups, packs, or discs
Not accepted: Electronics, loose coffee grounds, tea & coffee filters, coffee or tea accessories
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Natural beverage corks, synthetic beverage corks
Not accepted: Bottle caps, screw tops, foil, aluminum champagne twists, bottles
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Any brand of empty cosmetic, haircare, or skincare packaging beyond standard recyclable containers
Not accepted: Wood & bamboo, wooden eyeliner pencils, cardboard, aerosol & pressurized cans, partially full and full packaging, perfume bottles, electronic items, nail polish bottles & removers
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Contact lenses, glasses, sunglasses, swim goggles, ski goggles, safety glasses, broken spectacles
Not accepted: Wipes, eyewear cleaning products, cases, contact solution, eyeglass chains
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Collect with Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Textiles, fabric, clothing
Not accepted: Textiles with fill, liners, shoes, bags, hats, electronic heating blankets, purses
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Collect with Large or Extra Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Any size of flexible aluminum and plastic food and drink pouches
Not accepted: Juice boxes, plastic containers, other beverage containers
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Ink cartridges, toner cartridges
Not accepted: Printers, printer parts, printer accessories
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: 8-track tapes, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, Blu-ray discs, floppy disks, external hard drives, memory sticks, cassette tapes
Not accepted: Computers, record players, 8-track players, cassette players, TVs, CD players, DVD players, VCRs, CD cases, DVD cases
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Collect with Large or Extra Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Coated paper beverage cartons, including milk, juice, lemonade, iced tea, ice cream, and other freezer item cartons
Not accepted: Paper contaminated with food, organics
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Collect with Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Desk organizers, binder clips & fasteners, correction supplies, label backing, paper cutters, card filers, binders, staplers, tape dispensers
Not accepted: Lithium-ion batteries, oil-based paint & pressurized canisters, expired medication, organics, broken glass, pesticides, biomedical waste & sharps, light bulbs of any kind
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps, toothbrushes, toothbrush outer packaging, toothpaste tube outer packaging, floss containers
Not accepted: Other oral care waste
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Collect with Large or Extra Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Tissue paper, gift wrap, straws, ribbons & bows, napkins, storage containers, party decorations, punch bowls, single-use cups & plates, utensils
Not accepted: Electronic products, food & beverage containers, permanent glassware, permanent flatware
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Non-woven disposable plastic-based masks (including 3-ply, KN95, N95), latex gloves, nitrile gloves, vinyl gloves
Not accepted: Medical waste, cloth masks, dipped synthetic gloves, coated synthetic gloves, biodegradable PLA gloves, leather gloves, fabric gloves, cloth gloves
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Collect with Large or Extra Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Flexible multi-layered pet food packaging
Not accepted: Pet accessories, pet food
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Any plastic bottle cap
Not accepted: Metal bottle caps, other beverage packaging, bottles, liquids
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Collect with Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Sandals, boots, shoes, heels
Not accepted: Ski boots, inline skates, shoelaces, socks
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Collect with Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Training equipment, netting, sports clothing, sports safety equipment, cones, yoga mats, resistance accessories, whistles, bags
Not accepted: Live bait, fish, large gym machines
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Collect with Large or Extra Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Styrofoam shipping packaging, Styrofoam food packaging
Not accepted: Containers contaminated with food, organics
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Collect with Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Plastic building blocks, puzzle pieces, electronic handheld devices, electronic plush toys, flexible packaging, board games, playing cards, plastic & metal figures, remote-control vehicles
Not accepted: Toys with batteries still inside
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Collect with Large or Extra Large Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Dustpans, empty spray bottles, empty detergent bottles & nozzles, empty cleaning product bottles, lid tops, dryer sheets, brooms, mops, buckets
Not accepted: Solvents, drain cleaners, oven cleaners, disinfectant, toilet cleaners, detergents, fabric softeners, aerosol cans, bleach, all-purpose cleaners, degreasers, electric vacuum cleaners
Batteries, bulbs, liquids, hazardous items are not accepted
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: Water filters
Not accepted: Air filters, device using the filter
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Collect with Small Zero Waste Bags
Accepted items: TV cords, extension cords, cable wires, USB cables, computer cords, telephone cords, HDMI cables, ethernet cords
Not accepted: Batteries
Order Zero Waste Bags
Contact Us or email customerservice@collectiveresourcecompost.coop if you want to purchase bags using an alternative payment method.
Small
If you’re recycling:
Cigarette butts
Coffee capsules
Corks
Cosmetics
Eyeware
Ink & toner cartridges
Media storage
Oral care packaging
PPE (Masks and gloves)
Plastic bottle caps
Water filters
Wires & cords
Large
If you’re recycling:
All plastic packaging
Fabrics & clothing
Milk & juice cartons
Office supplies
Food & drink pouches
Party supplies & disposables
Pet food packaging
Shoes & footwear
Sporting goods
Styrofoam™
Toys
Used cleaning supplies
Extra Large
If you’re recycling:
All plastic packaging
Food & drink pouches
Milk & juice cartons
Party supplies & disposables
Pet food packaging
Styrofoam™
Used cleaning supplies
All bag collections need to be scheduled. Bag collection is free if made with your regular compost container swapout or $15 for on-demand pickup. You can have any number of bags picked up at one time, and you can waive the collection fee by signing up for composting service. You can also order new Zero Waste Bags to be delivered with the collection of your full bags!
Zero Waste Bag Pickup
Chicagoland Zero Waste Service Area
Our Zero Waste Bag collection services are available in any of these neighborhoods and municipalities. The bright green areas are the suburbs we service, the dark green areas are the Chicago neighborhoods, and the orange areas are the municipalities in which we have exclusive franchise agreements for our container-swap service, which we call our community composting programs. Anyone within our service area can order Zero Waste Bags and bag collection to recycle more from home.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Please only put recyclables from one specific waste stream in each Zero Waste Bag. Mark the checkbox for that waste stream on the bag to indicate what’s inside.
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No, you will need to purchase additional Zero Waste Bags. Drivers do not carry extra Zero Waste Bags. Zero Waste Bags can be purchased at any time.
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No, ordering your Zero Waste Bags is a one-time purchase, and you do not need to be subscribed to our regular composting swapout service to have them collected. Our regular customers can purchase Zero Waste Bags and leave them out with their composting containers to be collected. Non-customers can purchase Zero Waste Bags and request an on-demand collection here.
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Yes, contact us or email customer service at customerservice@collectiveresourcecompost.coop if you’d like to purchase a bag using an alternative payment method.
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TerraCycle recycles all compliant materials that are collected. The items are received by TerraCycle’s material recovery partners, where they are sorted into individual material components. Each material is then recycled into a raw format that can be used to make new products.