All residents are required to recycle the items below. Requirements apply to residents living in single-family homes, apartments, townhomes, condominiums, duplexes and assisted living.
Follow these rules to ensure your recycling gets recycled:
-
Do not use plastic bags. Place recyclables loose in your recycling cart or in a paper bag.
- Empty and dry bottles, jars and containers. They don't have to be perfect — just free of most residue.
- Leave caps on containers.
- Empty and flatten boxes.
- Check the
Recycling Guide if you are not sure about an item.
Put these items in your recycling
Paper
- Newspaper and inserts
- Magazines and catalogs
- Mail and office papers
Cardboard
- Corrugated cardboard
- Paperboard (e.g., cracker boxes)
Cartons
- Milk and juice cartons
- Soup, broth, and wine cartons
- Juice boxes
Metal cans
- Aluminum, tin, and steel cans
Glass bottles and jars
Plastic bottles, containers and jugs
- Containers numbered 1, 2 or 5
- Soda, juice and water bottles
- Milk and juice jugs
- Margarine, cottage cheese, cream cheese and other tubs and lids
- Laundry detergent bottles and jugs
- Clear berry and produce containers
NO – DO NOT put these items in your recycling
- Batteries
- Black plastic
- Ceramic dishware
- Clothing and textiles
- Food
- Household hazardous waste/hazardous waste
- Paper plates, cups, and napkins
- Diapers
- Pharmaceuticals and medicines/medical waste
- Plastic bags and film
- Metal cylinders (e.g., propane tanks)
- Scrap metal* (e.g., metal pots and pans)
- Shredded paper
- Styrofoam™
- Tanglers (e.g., chains, extension cords, hoses, string lights)
- Trash
- Yard waste and Christmas trees
- All items banned from being placed in the trash or recycling in state or local law – including:
- Electronics
- Major Appliances
- Sharps (e.g., lancets, needles, syringes)
- Tires
*Scrap metal is allowed in carts and dumpsters only if delivered to the Tennis Sanitation recycling facility.
Learn how to recycle right
Recycling at multifamily properties
Find resources to improve recycling at apartments, townhomes or other multifamily property through the Multifamily Recycling Program.
How to set up recycling and trash services
Hauler service requirement that affects some residents
Effective Jan. 1, 2022, recycling service providers will be required to provide weekly collection to residential customers in single family homes and multifamily properties where each residence has its own curbside recycling cart. This includes homes that contract for recycling service individually and those that are managed through a common contract (e.g., homeowner's association).
The county's requirement for residential recycling haulers to provide weekly recycling is intended to help the county meet the state's 75 percent recycling rate goal by increasing the amount of recyclables collected, meet state-mandated requirements for county programs and provide equity of recycling services to all residents. This requirement supports services offered by many haulers in Dakota County as seven of the 11 haulers already provided weekly residential collection services.
Most haulers will provide weekly recycling collection by the required date, but some may have delays due to manufacturing shortages of recycling truck parts and commercial driver shortages.
Some residents may experience a cost increase, but not all. Residents can request their hauler provide a cart size that best fits household needs (i.e., larger carts are priced higher) or contact 
licensed haulers serving your city to compare pricing.