|| Hard to Recycle Items

This information is intended for residential and small business users only.  Please contact Summit County Recycling at 468-9263 ext. 13 for information about commercial quantities. 

Click here for a 2010 Summit County Landfill Brochure for current landfill prices and hours.

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.

Appliances – TV’s and computers are NOT appliances, please see Computers & Electronics for information on these.  Summit County Recycling accepts appliances for recycling at the landfill only.  There is a $10 fee for each appliance. Freon must be removed from refrigerators before drop-off.  Contact us at 668-5703 for information on Freon Removal. 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 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 - 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, 2009
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: 

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 - 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. You 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.

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, City Market... are all accepting their bags). City Market in Dillon and Breckenridge is 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. Read more about plastic bags problems here.

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, 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 Summit County Landfill. Must be separate loads for lower rates - no treated, creosoted, painted or stained lumber in construction - nails and screws ok, but no metal bigger than 4 inches. Effective 1/1/09 stumps must be separated from slash. They are no longer considered slash rate and go into the landfill at current trash rates. Fees for slash and wood waste vary by season; call the landfill for details, 970-468-9263.

Styrofoam Packaging - The local UPS Stores take packaging material in good condition – must be clean and dry.  Breckenridge 453-8080, Silverthorne 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 between $8-$12 is typically charged):