Halloween Recycling Tips: What Goes in the Bin After the Spooky Fun Ends

Halloween brings plenty of treats, decorations, parties, costumes—and, once the fun is over, a surprising amount of waste.

From candy wrappers and cardboard boxes to party drinks and leftover food, it can be tempting to toss everything into the recycling cart during the post-Halloween cleanup. Unfortunately, not everything that looks recyclable belongs there.

At BVR Waste & Recycling, we want to make recycling as simple as possible. Before you clean up after the trick-or-treaters, here’s a quick guide to what belongs in your recycling bin, what belongs in the trash, and how you can help prevent recycling contamination.

Candy Wrappers: Trash Them

After a successful night of trick-or-treating, candy wrappers seem to be everywhere.

Unfortunately, most individual candy wrappers and treat bags do not belong in your curbside recycling bin. They are commonly made from flexible plastic films or a combination of plastic, foil, and other materials that cannot be processed with standard curbside recyclables.

What should you do?

Place candy wrappers, treat bags, and similar flexible packaging in your regular trash unless you have access to a specialty recycling program that specifically accepts them.

And remember: don't place wrappers inside another recyclable container hoping they'll get sorted out later. Loose wrappers and other non-recyclable materials can contaminate the recycling stream.

Plastic Halloween Decorations: Don't Assume They're Recyclable

Plastic pumpkins, skeletons, spiders, masks, yard decorations, and other Halloween accessories may be made from plastic, but that doesn't automatically make them acceptable for curbside recycling.

Many decorations contain mixed materials, electronics, batteries, glitter, fabric, metal, or types of plastic that aren't accepted in curbside programs.

Instead of automatically tossing old decorations into the recycling cart, consider reusing, donating, or storing them for next Halloween. If they're broken beyond repair and aren't accepted through a specialty recycling program, they may need to go in the trash.

Battery-powered decorations require a little extra attention. Batteries should never be placed in your trash or recycling cart. Batteries can create serious fire hazards in collection trucks and waste facilities and should be taken to an appropriate recycling or disposal location.

Food Waste: Keep It Out of the Recycling

Halloween parties can leave behind pizza crusts, cupcake icing, popcorn, caramel apples, dips, drinks, and plenty of other leftovers.

None of that belongs in your recycling cart.

Food and liquids can contaminate otherwise recyclable materials, making them more difficult—or sometimes impossible—to process properly.

Before recycling a bottle, can, or container, make sure it's empty and free of leftover food or liquid.

A good Halloween cleanup rule is simple:

Food goes out. Recyclables go in.

Cardboard Boxes: Flatten and Recycle

Did your Halloween candy, costumes, decorations, or party supplies arrive in cardboard boxes?

Good news: clean cardboard is one of the easiest materials to recycle.

Break down and flatten cardboard boxes before placing them in your recycling cart. Flattening boxes saves space in your cart and makes the material easier to collect and process.

However, cardboard that's heavily contaminated with food, grease, liquids, or other residue should not be placed in the recycling.

Before tossing the box, remove plastic bags, foam packaging, bubble wrap, and other packing materials that aren't accepted in your curbside recycling program.

Plastic Bottles: Empty Them First

Plastic beverage bottles from Halloween parties and neighborhood gatherings can typically go into the recycling cart when accepted by your local recycling program.

Before recycling:

• Empty all liquids.

• Keep food and other waste out of the bottle.

• Place bottles loose in the recycling cart rather than inside a plastic bag.

One of the easiest ways to improve recycling quality is simply making sure recyclable containers are empty, clean, and loose when they go into the cart.

Aluminum Cans: Definitely Worth Recycling

Whether you're serving soda at a Halloween party or handing out canned drinks at a community event, aluminum beverage cans are valuable recyclable materials.

Empty the cans before placing them in your recycling cart. There's no need to fill them with other recyclables or put them inside a plastic bag.

Just empty them and recycle them loose.

Watch Out for Recycling Contamination

One incorrect item might not seem like a big deal, but contamination adds up quickly.

Plastic bags, food waste, candy wrappers, decorations, batteries, and other non-recyclable materials can interfere with recycling operations and reduce the quality of otherwise recyclable materials.

Before something goes into your recycling cart, ask yourself:

Is it accepted? Is it empty? Is it clean?

If you're not sure, check your local recycling guidelines before putting it in the bin. Guessing can create more problems than simply placing a questionable item in the trash.

Don't Let Halloween Get Scary at the Recycling Facility

Halloween should have plenty of scares—but what's hiding inside your recycling cart shouldn't be one of them.

After the costumes come off and the last piece of candy disappears, take a few extra seconds to sort your cleanup properly. Recycle accepted cardboard, bottles, cans, paper, and other approved materials while keeping food, candy wrappers, plastic bags, decorations, batteries, and other prohibited materials out.

Proper sorting helps reduce contamination, protects collection crews and equipment, and keeps recyclable materials moving in the right direction.

Have a safe and happy Halloween from BVR Waste & Recycling!

Not sure whether something belongs in your trash or recycling cart? Visit BVR Waste & Recycling online for recycling guidelines and disposal information before you toss it.