Residents

Earth Day Recycling Event

  • Earth Day recyclables 

  • Fluorescent Lights

    Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) contain potentially harmful chemicals, including mercury, but  they also contain useful materials, such as steel and aluminum, which can be recycled. The City takes collected lights to a facility in Portland for processing.

    Fluorescent light recycling guidelines
    • Gresham and Wood Village residents and businesses may recycle up to 30 bulbs at the City's annual Earth Day recycling event.
    • Standard incandescent bulbs and tungsten bulbs are not accepted.
    • Lights should be packaged carefully to prevent breakage. The City will provide boxes prior to the recycling event. Boxes can be picked up at Gresham City Hall.
    Paper Shredding

    The City partners with Shred NW to provide residents with free paper shredding at its annual Earth Day recycling event.

    Paper shredding guidelines
    • Paper shredding is provided to Gresham and Wood Village residents only at the City's annual recycling event. Businesses may not participate.
    • Two paper bags of paper are accepted per household.
    • Do not mix other materials with your paper.
    • If your paper is contained in a cardboard box, the boxes will be returned to you at the Earth Day recycling event. The City cannot recycle cardboard at this event.

    Shred NW is a National Association for Information Destruction AAA-certified shredding and recycling company, offering secure shredding service on site. 

    Plastics

    At its annual Earth Day recycling event, the City collects bulky, rigid plastics and plastic bags that are not recyclable in your blue carts at home.  Plastic bags should never go in your recycling cart. Bags can be returned to your local grocery store.

    Not sure what can be recycled at home? See our curbside recycling guide.

    Plastics recycling guidelines
    • Plastics are acceptable from households only, not businesses.
    • The City will accept one car trunk load of plastics per household.
    • Bag all small plastic items together in an untied plastic or paper bag.
    • All plastics should be clean and dry, without metal components.
    • Soft plastics, such as inflatable toys will not be accepted.
    • Curbside recyclables will not be accepted.

    Accepted items 

    • Plastic lawn chairs
    • Rigid, plastic swimming pools
    • Large, hard, plastic toys
    • Plastic grocery bags
    • DVD cases and cassette tape cases
    • Clean, stretchy plastic bags
    • Clean plastic cups
    • Pill bottles
    • Clam shells
    • Plastic trays

     Unaccepted items

    • Plastics that can be recycled at home
    • Inflatable toys
    • Soft plastics
    • Plastic with metal components
    • Styrofoam food containers
    • Dirty plastic items
    • DVDs and CDs
    • Cassette tapes
    • VHS tapes
    • Clean plastic cutlery
    Small Appliances and Electronics

    Nonprofits will be onsite collecting working items for donation. 

     Accepted items 
    • Computers
    • Laptops
    • Monitors
    • Keyboards
    • Hard drives
    • Floppy drives
    • Televisions
    • Printers
    • Scanners
    • Fax machines
    • Copiers
    • Radios
    • Microwaves
    • Blenders
    • Cable boxes
    • Cameras
    • Stereos

     

    Unaccepted items 
    • Fire extinguishers
    • Mercury-containing items
    • Media (CD, DVD, floppy discs, cassettes)
    • Batteries
    • Old thermostats
    • Smoke detectors 
    Styrofoam
    Styrofoam recycling guidelines
    • Only Styrofoam from households will be accepted, not from businesses.
    • Styrofoam must be clean and all tape and labels removed.
    • Packing peanuts are accepted.
    • Soft, squishy Styrofoam, packaging wrap and food containers are not accepted.

  • Items not accepted 

    • Batteries. Metro offers a number of free hazardous waste collection events 
    • Small plastics (lids, caps)
    • Televisions
    • All hazardous waste materials (paint, aerosol cans, gas cans, needles). 
    • All construction, remodeling or demolition materials (including asbestos containing materials)
    • All kitchen garbage
    • Residential yard debris and trimmings
    • Waste and recyclables collected curbside

    Contact Metro to find a recycler or call  503-234-3000. 

    Home goods and building supplies

    The new Gresham ReStore home improvement outlet, 610 NE 181st Ave, will be collecting home goods and building supplies on Earth Day.  Restore donation guidelines

    • Earth Day recycling and reuse event volunteer
    • Paper shredding at Earth Day recycling event
    • Plastic bag recycling at the Earth Day recycling event
    • A load of Styrofoam being unloaded at the City's Earth Day recycling event
    • Fluorescent tubes being recycled at Earth Day recycling event
    • Electronic items being recycled at Earth Day recycling event

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    • At this event, the City collects materials that are hard to recycle, and small, broken appliances and electronics are hard to find a home for. You can’t put them in your recycling roll cart, yet many contain precious metals that are great to recycle and don’t belong in the landfill.

       

    • The City partners with Gresham Sanitary’s Shred Northwest to offer free secure shredding service, for residents only, perfectly timed just after tax season. 

       

    • The City thanks the community for doing the right thing and recycling, reusing, and reducing waste, especially at the Earth Day event, by bringing in some of the common materials – like plastic sacks - we unfortunately cannot recycle at the curb.

       

    • Styrofoam is not recyclable in the regular recycling because it can clog the recycling equipment, and it’s not easy to recycle. Only special facilities can condense or recycle it, and in general it’s not a good material to have. If it does appear, you can save space in your garbage and keep it for Earth Day. Then it will be recycled into other plastic products or turned back into crude oil for other uses.

       

    • Fluorescent tubes contain mercury vapor that’s harmful to people and animals. Before the event, boxes for fluorescent tubes are available for free at the City Hall front desk to allow for safe transport. Do not bring fluorescent bulbs with broken glass unless they are safely boxed.

    • Keep up the recycling spirit all year. One way? Get year-round recycling tips and garbage service reminders with the City’s GoCart! tool for smartphone or computer. 

  • Contact us

    For more information about Earth Day or year-round recycling in Gresham, contact Cherie Ludwig at 503-618-2518 or Cherie.Ludwig@GreshamOregon.gov.