Avoiding Recycling Frights!

Published on October 28, 2025

Don't Give Big Green a Fright!

Avoid the "Recycling Scaries" with these simple tips.

It’s spooky season, and while jack-o’-lanterns on the porch are a delight, there are some Halloween haunts that give your recycling cart quite a fright!

Just like you wouldn’t want a ghost crashing your costume party, your Big Green Cart doesn’t want certain creepy items sneaking inside. Some of the biggest boo-boos we have seen in OKC are car bumpers, blankets, tires, household hazardous waste, plastic bags, and styrofoam. Talk about a monster mash-up!

Why are these items so scary?

Items not accepted in Oklahoma City's program, or those that are NOT recyclable, can get tangled up in machines and contaminate entire loads of good recyclable materials. That can hurt the good recycling efforts of other customers.

Here are some examples. Clothing, blankets, garden hoses and plastic bags - known to recycling folks as tanglers - can wrap around machinery like a mummy in a spin cycle or a crone's long hair around a vacuum roller. Tires and car bumpers? They’re way too big and bulky—more Frankenstein’s monster than recycle friendly. And household hazardous waste? That’s downright terrifying for the safety of our workers and the environment.

The good news is, there are safe and smart ways to handle these frightful foes. Most common household hazardous waste products can be dropped off at the City's Household Hazardous Waste collection center located at SW 15th and Portland. Other items can be dropped off at local retailers or specialty recyclers that accept things like tires or bulky car parts. Plastic bags can usually go back to collection bins set up at grocery or big box stores (not your recycling cart!) Styrofoam, which is not recyclable in OKC, should goes straight into the trash.

When in doubt, visit our What Goes Where page to see what goes where and how to dispose of items in OKC. This Halloween, keep your Big Green free of frights and stick to the basics: household plastic bottles and jugs, paper, cardboard, cans, paperboard and glass bottle and jars. That way, your recyclables get a chance at new life—maybe as next year’s candy bucket or costume accessories! Have fun trick-or-treating, enjoy your haunted houses, and remember to keep the frights away from Big Green!