Am I Recyclable? Christmas

Gift Wrap

To recycle holiday gift wrap, fold or flatten the gift wrap and place it loosely in your recycling container. Gift wrap cannot be placed in plastic bags for recycling. Tissue paper and foil or metallic wrapping paper are not accepted for recycling. Wrapping paper will only be accepted during the two weeks following Christmas. Cardboard tubes from gift wrap may also be placed in your recycling container. Always consider reusing wrapping paper before disposal.

Holiday Cards

Holiday greeting cards may also be recycled. Each year, 2.65 billion holiday cards are sold in the U.S. That is enough to fill a football field ten stories high. Place greeting cards, catalogs, gift boxes and other recyclable paper in with your regular recyclables. These items can be recycled all year long.

Packing and Wrapping Materials

Styrofoam and packing peanuts are not recyclable and should be placed with your regular trash. Plastic film – such as bubble wrap, bubble mailing envelopes, air pillows and plastic bags – can be delivered to retail locations for recycling, or can be placed in your regular garbage. Plastic film is NOT accepted for recycling at Authority EcoDrops.

Holiday Lights

Holiday lights should be stored for use again next year. Broken or unwanted holiday lights cannot be placed in your recycling bin. Other types of electronic waste such as computers and televisions are also accepted at the Authority’s Utica and Rome EcoDrops year round, at no charge.

Christmas Trees and Wreaths

The Authority’s compost facility allows this region increased recycling opportunities, including Christmas tree recycling. Contact your local municipality to see what the collection schedule is for Christmas trees. If your municipality does not have a collection schedule, residents can deliver trees for composting to the Authority’s Utica EcoDrop.

  • Make sure all decorations and tinsel are removed. Christmas wreaths should be disposed of with your regular garbage.
  • Real and artificial wreaths are held together with wire and plastic, so they cannot be composted. 

Holiday Cooking Recyclables

Residents in Oneida and Herkimer Counties also have the capability to recycle leftover cooking oil and kitchen grease. Residents are able to drop-off cooking oil and kitchen grease at the Utica EcoDrop year-round, at no charge. Residents should transport used oils or grease in sealed, unbreakable, leak-proof containers. The material is then collected and recycled into animal feed.

RECYCLEONE (place in curbside bin):

  • Cardboard Boxes (must be empty – Styrofoam and plastic packaging are trash items)
  • Catalogs and Magazines
  • Gift Boxes
  • Gift Bags
  • Greeting Cards and Envelopes
  • Wrapping Paper (no tissue paper or metallic papers)
  • Clean Aluminum Foil & Baking Tins 

Drop-Off Recyclables (do not place in bin):

  • Cooking Oil (deliver to Authority’s Utica EcoDrop)
  • Electronics (deliver to Authority’s Utica or Rome EcoDrops)
  • Holiday Lights (deliver to Authority’s Utica or Rome EcoDrops)
  • Live Christmas Trees (deliver to Authority’s Utica EcoDrop or contact municipality for collection schedule)
  • Plastic Shopping Bags (return to grocery stores and other retailers for recycling)
  • Rechargeable Batteries (deliver to Authority’s Utica or Rome EcoDrops)

Trash Items (if you cannot reuse them):

  • Metallic or Foil Wrapping Paper
  • Styrofoam
  • Tissue Paper
  • Christmas Wreaths & Artificial Christmas Trees

If you are not sure how to properly recycle or dispose of an item, the Authority encourages residents to visit its easy-to-use tool at www.AmIRecyclable.com to search hundreds of different items and learn all the answers. When non-acceptable items are placed in the recycling bin, they interfere with the recycling of acceptable items.  

Recycle