Author: HCMUD 102

Have you ever rolled your recycling cart to the curb, only to find it still full at the end of the day? It’s frustrating — but it usually happens for one important reason: contamination.

When trash or prohibited items end up in your recycling cart, the entire load will be rejected. Recycling facilities are designed to handle specific materials like clean; cardboard, paper, plastic bottles, and metal cans. Anything outside of that causes major problems.

What Happens When Recycling Is Contaminated

• Good recyclables get ruined: A single bag of garbage or greasy food container can contaminate a whole truckload, sending the whole truck load to the landfill.
• Equipment gets damaged: Items like plastic bags, textiles, cords, or hazardous materials can jam and break sorting machines.
• Workers face safety risks: Sharp objects, batteries, or chemicals can endanger facility staff.

A cart that contains trash or non-recyclable materials is considered contaminated and will be left at the curb.

Recycling Best Practices

Follow these simple steps to make sure your recycling is collected and processed properly:

• Do not bag recyclables. Place items loose in your cart — plastic bags and bagged recyclables can jam machinery and it all gets sent to the landfill.
• Rinse all containers. Remove food and liquid residue before recycling.
• Skip greasy pizza boxes. Oil and food residue make them non-recyclable.
• Flatten cardboard boxes to save space and improve sorting efficiency.
• Review all of the eligible recyclable items here on the HCMUD 102’s trash page

By recycling correctly, you help ensure that clean, usable materials get a second life — and your cart won’t be left behind on collection day.

Texas Pride Disposal will NOT be collecting on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Regular collection for trash (Monday and Thursday) and recycling (Monday) will resume the following scheduled collection day after each holiday.