Solid Waste & Recycling

Curbside Recycling & Refuse Program

To guarantee pickup, please have your recycling/trash carts out before 6 a.m. on your pickup day. Place cart at the curb with the arrows and lid opening toward the street. All trash and recycling must be placed in the provided carts. Any trash bags or recycling placed outside of the carts will be left behind. Make sure the lids are closed as this will keep animals, rain, snow and ice out. For ease of automated pickup, please place your carts no closer than 3 feet apart of each other and away from obstacles such as mailboxes, utility poles, fire hydrants, parked cars or under trees.

Trash and Recycling Pick Up Day Change
Change for Limited Addresses Starting The Week of April 24th, 2023

As part of our commitment to a clean and sustainable Hamden, and to providing prompt and efficient services for the residents, we regularly review operations and the delivery of services. In partnership with our solid waste and recycling contractor (All American Waste) we have identified select areas for pick-up day changes. These improved routes will align recycling pick-up for more residents and will reduce traffic and truck emissions.

All American Waste Notification Letter and Street Change Summary:

  1. All American Waste Notification Letter
  2. Hamden Street Change Summary

Pickup Schedule

Curbside recycling is collected every other week, on the same day as refuse pick-up. To look up your collection day and recycling schedule please view the Recycling Weeks by Address (PDF) and the 2023 Recycling Calendar . If you have any questions about the schedule , call the recycling coordinator at 203-287-7021.

Holidays

There is no refuse or recycling collection on the following holidays.

  • New Year's Day
  • Memorial Day
  • Fourth of July
  • Labor Day
  • Thanksgiving Day
  • Christmas Day

Collection for that day is delayed and for  the rest of the week the collection MAY be delayed. i.e. if your pickup day is Friday and that Monday was a holiday ,do not put your bins out a day late on Saturday. Put them out Friday. If the holiday falls on a weekend day, there will be regularly scheduled trash and recycling collection.

Reduce/Reuse

The long term solution to reducing the town's cost of trash and recycling is to reduce what we consume and to reuse what we have. Reuse your containers. Minimize purchase of containers (for example, buy your milk in a reusable glass bottle), Bring your drink from home in a reusable container. Bring a container with you from home to get your coffee in, instead of a disposable cup. Reuse cardboard boxes. Instead of recycling your boxes or shipping materials, post them for free on social media. The ultimate solution for the town to reduce waste disposal costs is to reduce  the amount of waste we create. 

Link to list of charitable organizations for donating all types of household goods: https://housing.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/TheDownsizingDonationGuide.pdf

Food Waste & Composting

Removing food waste from our Municipal Solid Waste ( MSW) reduces Hamden's disposal costs. Up to 25% of all the trash we throw away is food waste and other organics that are a valuable and easy resource to "reuse". Adding compost to the soil can fertilize your vegetable and flower gardens without cost.

Current Recovery Programs:
Bringing food scraps to the transfer station reduces the Town's disposal cost for those food scraps by about 50% . Right now food scraps brought to the transfer station then go to the Quantum Biodigester in Southington. The tipping fees (cost per ton) is about half of the fees for throwing it away. And instead of the pollution throwing it away causes, the biodigester creates electricity and no pollution.

Residents can bring their food waste in a reusable container (that you must keep and reuse!), during regular hours of the transfer station, Monday through Friday 7:30 – 11:30 and 12:30- 3:00 pm, and  The transfer station is now also open the first Saturday of each month from 8:00 to 11:45 am. The town has free plastic pails with lids for residents  transporting  food scraps to the transfer station and for home use. Call the Recycling Coordinator to get one at 203-287-7021.

Programs Under Development
The town is currently developing a program so that we can compost our own food waste and then we can use that compost to build our soils. There is still a cost to transport the food waste to the transfer station, but combining the value of the end product  (compost) with the cost reduction of not paying tipping fees, it is much less expensive than our current practice. The best option, when it is possible, is to compost at home. No transportation or disposal fees and we improve our own soil in our yards. 

Private Services

A private company called Peels and Wheels will pick up your food scraps at your house and provide you with finished compost as an option. Currently Peels and Wheels pays a tipping fee to bring food scraps to the Transfer Station. Peels and Wheels transports the food scraps by bicycle ! There is a monthly cost for this service. 

Recycling - Single Stream - Blue Bin

It conserves natural resources, reduces pollution, saves energy and saves tax dollars! While it costs Hamden taxpayers $90 for every ton of refuse disposal, recycling cost less, currently $70 per ton for disposal (note the cost for recycling can vary considerably depending on the materials market). 

If you have a any questions about what to put into your blue recycling container, there is a free phone app you can download, at   https://www.recyclect.com/  

Also check the 'Guide to Recycling" at the bottom of this page.

Textiles

Update on Pink Bag Collection of textiles. Pink Bags are no longer picked up with recycling, BUT you can have your clothing and household times picked up by scheduling a pickup here: https://simplerecycling.com/

Items do not have to be in pink bags. Any bag or box is acceptable. Or call Simple recycling at: 866-835-5068. 

Mattresses

Mattresses can be recycled! Bring mattresses and box springs to the transfer station. Find out more information about Connecticut's Mattress recycling program here: https://mattressrecyclingcouncil.org/more-than-1-million-mattresses-recycled-in-connecticut/

Blue Carts

Residents may place any recyclable item in their recycling bin for curbside pickup. Please do not mix trash and recycling together. Please remember that plastic bags are not recyclable and cannot be placed in the recycling cart. Carts cannot be lined with plastic bags. See the graphic below for complete information about what can go in your blue recycling cart. You can also search for specific items that can be recycled here: https://www.recyclect.com/  Also, at this site you can find out information on the new phone app, so you can instantly search for "what's and and what's out" on your smart phone.

RecycleCT_Flyer_V1_12.19.22 Opens in new window

The carts are the property of the Town of Hamden and must be left at your home if you move.

Items Unable to Be Recycled

For a list of items which are not acceptable for curbside refuse collection, and where to dispose of them, please see our What To Do With Items Not Acceptable for Curbside Collection (PDF).