|| Hard to Recycle Items

The Summit County Resource Allocation Park (SCRAP) is located at the Summit County landfill, 639 CR 66 (Landfill Road) in Dillon, Colorado.

This information is intended for residential and small business users only.  Please contact Summit County Recycling at 468-9263 ext. 0 for information about commercial quantities. 

Click here for a 2012 Summit County Landfill Brochure for current landfill prices and hours.

Habitat ReStore in Summit County - Some materials that are still working, clean, and gently used may be donated to the Habitat ReStore located in Breckenridge. Furniture, fixtures, newer appliances, carpets and rugs, and tools are among the items that the ReStore will take. The Habitat ReStore is now located at the Quonset Hut directly across from the 7-11, at the corner of CR 450 and Highway 9, in Breckenridge. The ReStore is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Call 970-423-7445 or email for more info.

Antifreeze, Oil & Oil Filters – Take antifreeze, oil, and oil filters to the recycling facility at the Summit County Landfill. Currently it is free to recycle these at the landfill but this is subject to change. Please check with the Summit County Landfill for current prices by calling 468-9263 x 0.

Appliances – TV’s and computers are NOT appliances, please see Computers & Electronics for information on these.  Appliances accepted for recycling at the Summit County Resource Allocation Park (landfill) only.  Coolants in fridges and a/c, etc. must be removed by a certified technician and proper documentation provided at check in. Appliances cost $10 each up to 2 appliances - 3 or more appliances charged as scrap metal rate ($40/ton, $20 minimum). Call first 468-9263 x 0.  Currently, there aren’t a lot of options for working appliances in good condition.  You can post them for free on Summit Freecycle or place an ad ($4 per week for 20 words) in the Swap for Charity section of the Summit Daily News by calling 970-668-3997.

Batteries – Alkaline, carbon, zinc, lead, nickel, cadmium, rechargeable, marine and car batteries accepted at the Frisco & Breckenridge Drop-off Recycling Centers. 

Building Materials– Unfortunately, there aren’t many options for used building materials in good condition in our community.  Following are some suggestions:

Cell Phones - NEW Cellular Equipment Recycling Program at HC3! The High Country Conservation Center is now accepting used cellular equipment free of charge for recycling, including cell phones, digital cameras, game systems, and ipods. These items will be either refurbished and reused, or dismantled and recycled domestically and responsibly. For every cell phone recycled through this program, a donation is made to the High Country Conservation Center. Drop off your cellular equipment at the HC3 office - 518 Main Street in Frisco.

For those still working cell phones that are just a few years old, there are many places that appreciate donations for reusable cell phones. All of the Town Halls take cell phones on behalf of Advocates for Victims of Assault in Summit County. The Summit County Builders Association also takes working cell phones for donation to disaster relief programs. For those really old cell phones that you’ve been keeping in your junk drawer for 8 years (the “big” models with giant antennas, for example), you can recycle them for free at Office Max in Silverthorne.

Christmas Trees - Dec. 26th-Jan. 31st
This year each town has a place to recycle Christmas trees. Please make sure all ornamentation, including tinsel, is removed. The locations are marked with signs and are as follows: Breckenridge- at the Slash Drop on Wellington Road; Frisco- at the Marina in the empty lot to the right; Dillon- at the Dillon Town Hall lot; and Silverthorne- across from the second Three Peaks Entrance. Trees may also be taken to the Summit County landfill’s wood waste drop off area. Call 668-5703 for detailed directions to the locations.

Clothing - Not accepted at any of the Recycling Drop-off Centers.  There are thrift and consignment shops that accept varying grades of clothes.  Please contact the following for hours/details: 

Construction Wood - Accepted at SCRAP. Must be separate loads for lower rates - raw dimensional lumber only - no creosoted, painted, stained or treated lumber in construction wood - no plywood or OSB. No trash or other construction debris. No metal hardware. Contaminated loads charged at loose trash rate, along with applicable surcharges and additional hauling fees. Slash and stumps must be separate loads for the lower rates (no dirt, rocks, or trash in load). Contact SCRAP for more info at 970-468-9263 x 0.

Digital Cameras - The High Country Conservation Center is now accepting used cellular equipment free of charge for recycling, including cell phones, digital cameras, game systems, and ipods. These items will be either refurbished and reused, or dismantled and recycled domestically and responsibly. For every cell phone recycled through this program, a donation is made to the High Country Conservation Center. Drop off your cellular equipment at the HC3 office - 518 Main Street in Frisco.

Furniture – Not accepted at any of the Recycling Drop-off Centers or at Summit Thrift and Treasure.  For furniture in good condition, you can try:

Household Goods – Usable items (dishes, books, small appliances, lamps, bedding, rugs, etc) can be taken to our local nonprofit community thrift store, Summit Thrift and Treasure, Monday through Saturday from 11am to 2pm.  PLEASE REVIEW their GUIDELINES before you go at: www.summitfirc.org/sttdropoff.php

Ink-Jet and Toner Cartridges - Here’s another instance where the manufacturer is the best choice for recycling these items. Many toner and ink cartridges (Dell and Hewlett Packard, for example) come with handy pre-paid shipping labels to send the old cartridges directly back to the manufacturer. Locally, the Balance Sheet takes HP and Brother ink jet cartridges (no toner, please) for recycling. Office Max in Silverthorne offers a special program for HP, Lexmark, and Dell ink jet or toner cartridges for their Max Perks customers where you can get $3 back per cartridge (yes, you get the $3 back for recycling in the form of a gift card), up to 10 per week. They’ll also take Cannon, Brother, and Epson ink jet and toner cartridges back for free, but without the $3 reward.

iPods, iPhones, and other iThings - The High Country Conservation Center is now accepting used cellular equipment free of charge for recycling, including cell phones, digital cameras, game systems, and ipods. These items will be either refurbished and reused, or dismantled and recycled domestically and responsibly. For every cell phone recycled through this program, a donation is made to the High Country Conservation Center. Drop off your cellular equipment for free recycling at the HC3 office - 518 Main Street in Frisco.

Apple retail stores accept old iPods and such for free recycling, and you’ll even receive a 10% discount for a replacement. Since we don’t have an Apple retail store, you can also jump on the Apple website and request a free, pre-paid mailing label to ship your iThing back to them. This is truly the best option, because when the manufacturer is in charge of recycling, that manufacturer just might begin to make more recyclable and less toxic iThings. But, for convenience sake, you can also take them to Office Max in Silverthorne for free recycling.

Mercury Thermometers and Switches - These are perhaps the nastiest of the little toxic things. As we know, mercury is a potent neurotoxin and should be handled with great care. Residents can recycle these mercury containing devices for free at Summit County’s Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) program, located at the Summit County Resource Allocation Park (SCRAP), which is open Monday to Friday from 7:30am-3:30pm. Commercial businesses please call SCRAP 970-468-9263 x 0.

Paint – Collected with other Household Hazardous Waste. Empty, dried out cans of paint can be recycled with other tin/steel cans at Frisco and Breckenridge Recycling Drop-off Centers. 

Pharmaceuticals - You can dispose of unused medications in Summit County in secure collection bins at: City Market in Breckenridge (400 N. Park Avenue) and City Market in Dillon (300 Dillon Ridge Road). NEVER flush pharmaceuticals down the toilet. Flushing or trash disposal of unused or unwanted medications can cause pollution of our lakes, streams, and water supplies! For a detailed list of what is accepted in the Pharmaceutical Take-Back program, click here.

Plastic Bags – Plastic bags can be taken back to most grocery stores (Wal-Mart, Safeway, Target, City Market... are all accepting their bags). City Markets in Dillon and Breckenridge are taking plastic shopping bags (regardless of where they come from), dry cleaning bags, and "wrap." Please contact City Market for specifics. Please do not recycle plastic bags, bubble wrap, Ziploc bags, Saran wrap, Visqueen wrap, or any other kind of plastic packaging or wrapping at any of the County drop-off centers. They are no longer accepted and contaminate the recycling streams. Please remember that reusable bags are a better alternative to plastic bags. If you'd like join a group of concerned citizens (Summit County's Bag It Committee) that are taking action to reduce disposable bag waste in our mountain community, contact Erin.

Plastic Bottle Caps - Please remove plastic lids from #1 and #2 bottles and throw them away. Click here to learn more about why can't recycle plastic lids. Another option for lids is the Serenity Spa and Salon's "Recycle Caps with Aveda" program. The program accepts caps that are rigid polypropylene plastic, sometimes noted with a 5 in the chasing arrows recycling symbol. This includes caps that twist on with a threaded neck such as caps on shampoo, water, soda, milk and other beverage bottles, flip top caps on tubes and food product bottles (such as ketchup and mayonnaise), laundry detergents and some jar lids such as peanut butter. You can collect your plastic lids and take them to Serenity Spa in Keystone. Click here for more info about the Aveda program.

Scrap Metal - You can recycle scrap metal in the scrap metal bins at the Frisco and Breckenridge drop-off centers. Please do not put scrap metal in the mixed metal bins (aluminum and tin cans only). Keep contaminants such as barbed wire, brake shoes or pads, chicken wire, rolled fencing, rebar, cable, propane, and fuel tanks out of the scrap metal bins. Barrels are only accepted with lids off or cut open. Summit County Recycling does not pay for scrap metal. The following are metal yards in Denver that do pay for scrap metal:
Rocky Mountain Recycling 303-288-6868
All Recycling 303-922-7722
Sims Metal Management 303-295-2911

Skis/Sports Equipment – Seasonal ski collection program available at Frisco Drop-off Center, call for status of program (668-5703). Recycle Ski & Sport, 668-5150, accepts items for consignment.  Place an ad or in the Swap for Charity section of the Summit Daily News by calling 668-3997 or post them for free on Summit Freecycle. 

Slash & Wood Waste – Accepted at SCRAP. Must be separate loads for lower rates - raw dimensional lumber only - no creosoted, painted, stained or treated lumber in construction wood - no plywood or OSB. No trash or other construction debris. No metal hardware. Contaminated loads charged at loose trash rate, along with applicable surcharges and additional hauling fees. Slash and stumps must be separate lodas for the lower rates (no dirt, rocks, or trash in load). Contact SCRAP for more info at 970-468-9263 x 0.

Styrofoam Packaging - The local UPS Stores take packaging material in good condition – must be clean and dry.  Breckenridge 970-453-8080, Silverthorne 970-468-2800. Summit County drop-off centers DO NOT accept any kind of Styrofoam packaging including coolers, peanuts, take-out containers, cups, and blocks regardless of number or recycling label. Please do not leave Styrofoam at the recycling centers.

Televisions – See Computers and Electronics above.

Tires – Not accepted at any of the Recycling Drop-off Centers.  Please bring them to one of the following (a minimal fee of $8 for 23" tires and below is typically charged):