Welcome to the
National Recycling Calendar

Thanks for stopping by early! 


The Calendar launches officially later this year,
but you're welcome to explore, start using the assets, and submit feedback.

Topic Schedule

Let's Recycle
No String Lights

Yes Aluminum
No Plastic Bags

Yes Paper
No Yard Waste

Let's Recycle
No Donations

Yes Cardboard
No E-Waste

Yes Paper
No Fireworks

Yes Aluminum
No Propane Tanks

Yes Cardboard
No Water Hoses

Yes Paper
No Batteries

Yes Aluminum
No Donations

Let's Recycle
No Food Waste

Yes Cardboard
No Styrofoam

What is the National Recycling Calendar?

An ongoing nationwide shared topic schedule for recycling outreach, backed by a growing curated collection of free resources. 

Each month spotlights one good and one bad item for curbside and regular recycling, aligned with American holidays and seasonal trends in recycling behaviors. 

The Calendar is an ongoing project that will adapt and update with recycling and market trends. Check back for schedule, messaging, and asset updates.

How to use the Calendar?

Resources are free to use, customize, and borrow from - just stick to the schedule. 

Who should participate?

By harmonizing recycling education across the US, and meeting residents at the right time for each recyclable, we can make a big impact on increasing recycling participation & decreasing the contamination rate. 

Individuals who want to learn more about recycling in general are welcome to look around. To learn more about recycling in your specific community, contact your local government. 

What about plastics & glass?

Plastics are optional.

Accepted plastics vary widely by program, have a high likelihood of contamination, and cause the most confusion, so we're leaving it up to each organization if and how you promote plastic recycling. 

There are promising new technologies for recycling - and even upcycling - plastic waste into valuable new feedstocks, which will greatly increase demand for post-consumer plastics once refined. Great work is also being done by many global and international organizations like the US Plastics Pact and the Recycling Partnership, along with major plastic processors and manufacturers to standardize and simplify packaging and plastic types. 

For now, we recommend deciding which plastics are right for your program to promote based on the specific needs of your community and the re-marketability of the materials. 

If you don't know which plastics your program can handle, contact your recycling provider or your local government. 

Glass is optional.

Like plastics, different types of glass have different compositions and processes for recycling. Currently, glass recycling also requires a high level of purity, is very sensitive to contamination, often breaks during collection, and the logistics of transport cut into the energy and ecological advantages.

New tech is being developed for recycling glass, and many successful glass return and reuse programs already exist. 

For now, we recommend deciding if glass is right for your program to promote based on the specific needs of your community and the re-marketability of the materials. 

If you don't know if your program can handle glass, contact your recycling provider or your local government. 

Plastics &/or glass are important to my program, when should I promote them?

Spotlight plastics and/or glass during "Let's Recycle" months.

New features coming soon!

Request a new feature or submit asset feedback.