City Renews Contract with Recycling and Yard Waste Collection Contractor

On November 3, the City began a 5-year agreement with Casella Waste Systems to collect and haul the City’s residential recycling and yard waste. Residents will not see any major changes to their service. As part of the new contract, Casella and the City are proud to announce the addition of two electric vehicles (EVs) into daily recycling collections in Cambridge.

The two new EVs are in addition to the Department of Public Works (DPW) current fleet of three EVs for daily trash collection. A fourth EV is scheduled to join the DPW fleet by Spring 2026.

Separating recycling and yard waste from the trash reduces costs for the City and reduces our environmental impact. The City has saved an additional $450,000 since 2020 by recycling right and keeping contaminants out of the blue recycle carts. As a reminder, it is important to continue following these guidelines for recycling and yard waste.

Recycling guidelines:

1. Please do not use plastic bags to bag recyclables. Plastic film/bags of any kind are prohibited in curbside recycling.
2. Please empty and lightly rinse food containers.
3. Please do not put paper towels, paper take-out containers, textiles, electronics, batteries, or other items that do not match the accepted list into the curbside recycling cart.

Yard Waste guidelines:

1. Please set-out yard waste in paper lawn bags or reusable bins/barrels (with Yard Waste Only stickers). Barrels may not be larger than 45 gallons.
2. Please only place leaves, grass, plants, twigs, and small limbs into yard waste.
3. Please no rocks, soil, dirt, sand, or invasive plants in the yard waste.

Each year, residents divert more than 8,500 tons of recycling and 1,500 tons of yard waste from the trash. Use the Get Rid of It Right tool on our webpage (or download the Zero Waste Cambridge app) to look up more than 500 items and the proper way to dispose of them. Visit www.CambridgeMA.Gov/Recycle for more info.