Aerosol cans that contained a hazardous material such as paints or pesticides and are empty can go in the trash. Those with any quantity in them should be brought to a household
hazardous waste collection event. Empty aerosol cans that did not contain a hazardous product can be recycled.

Air conditioners are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station

See Packing Materials

These are not recyclable, therefore they are trash unless you can donate to a local shipping store or local post office.

Clean (no food or other residue) aluminum cans, pie plates and tinfoil can be placed into your recycling bin.

Unwanted ammunition, road flares, and fireworks must be handled properly. Call the State Police Explosives Unit for disposal options.

Contact the State Solid Waste Management Program at 802-828-1138.

Antifreeze can be brought to a household hazardous waste collection event. Visit the HHW Events page for information on upcoming events.

Appliances, if in working condition, should be reused if possible. Place an ad on Craigslist or Front Porch Forum If they are not in working order they can be brought to the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station. Appliances include: white goods, refrigerators, washing machines, clothes dryers, ranges, water heaters, dishwashers, and freezers.

Must be landfilled.

Both friable and non-friable asbestos must be handled and disposed of carefully. Contact the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources at 802-863-7236, or toll-free in Vermont 800-439-8550, for a list of licensed asbestos abatement contractors. You can also contact the Vermont Department of Health Lead and Asbestos Program (802-865-7784 or 800-439-8550) for assistance with health concerns about asbestos.

Recycling options are not currently available, please place them in the trash.

A great fertilizer, especially in the spring. Spread on your lawn or garden. Ashes can also be taken to the yard waste disposal drop off if they are cold! If not, they are a significant fire hazard. Wet them down, or store in a metal can until they have cooled completely before transporting.

Construction and Demolition material is accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

Junk cars are accepted at Ronald Faufaw Towing located at 185 Duke Street, St. Johnsbury.

Donate working vehicles (or even those in need of repair) to a reuse outlet.

Good News Garage: 877-448-3288
Community Action Motors: 802-476-7800
Wheels for Wishes: 877-675-9474 (WISH)
Cars to Cure Breast Cancer: 855-450-2873
Charity Cars: 800-Charity

These materials can be brought to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day.

See wire

Barbed wire can be recycled in the METAL ONLY container at your local drop-off.

Alkaline batteries from AAA to 12volt are accepted in the trash or taken to a battery drop-off location. Lead-acid batteries are banned from disposal. Rechargeable, lithium and button cell batteries can be recycled Larrabees Building Supply in West Danville. Mercury containing batteries can be brought to Household Hazardous Waste Day.

To find more about locations that accept batteries please visit call2recycle.org/locator.

If books are still in good condition, donate to a used bookstore, thrift store or community rummage sale. Unusable paperbacks and magazines can go in regular recycling while hardcovers go into the trash if they are not repurposed in another one of the above avenues.  You can remove the covers and place the pages in recycling.

Less than 2” in diameter are trash. Larger than 2” in diameter and displaying a recycle logo are recyclable.

If they are clean (empty and rinsed), place in your recycle bin.

Box Springs and Mattresses are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

If it is clean, break down and place in your recycle bin.

These are not recyclable, therefore they are trash unless you can donate to a local shipping store or local post office.

Construction and Demolition materials are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

If they are clean (empty and rinsed), place in your recycle bin.

Recycle (clean and broken down)

Carpets are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

If conventional clumping litter, it goes in the trash.
If you use a natural plant-based litter, composting may be an option. Keep in mind when composting cat litter that it is easy to do, but should be kept separate from regular food-scrap based compost, and, when the composting process is complete, should be used on ornamentals only. Compost cat litter for 12 – 18 months to be certain pathogens have been killed by the composting process.

Can be place in your recycle bin.

Contact companies and ask to be removed from mailing list if unwanted.

To remove your name from most national direct marketing lists, register with the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mail Preference Service. Send a written request with your name as it appears on all catalog labels to:

Direct Marketing Association
Mail Preference Service
P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735

See also Jewel Cases

Place in recycling

See also DVDs, game disks

If unscratched, consider selling on ebay, Craigslist, Front Porch Forum, or bring them to Resource in Burlington. CD and DVD’s are not recyclable and must be placed in the trash if they cannot be repurposed.

Cell phones can typically be returned for credit, contact your service provider for details.

Working cell phones can be donated to various domestic violence and advocacy centers throughout Vermont such as Umbrella, St. Johnsbury, 1216 Railroad Street Suite C. 

Other options include:

Staples

Best Buy

Walmart

Trees can be brought to the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station or a Town Leaf and Yard Collection Day.

The first choice option for clean wood is to save  for home heating purposes or for future household projects.

Clean wood can be brought to the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

Bring anything marked, “Danger, Hazard, Warning or Caution” to a Household Hazardous Waste collection.

Please choose donation as your first option for clothing/textiles. Local options include:

The Salvation Army:
250 Railroad St, St Johnsbury, VT 05819
(802) 748-5836

NECKA:
115 Lincoln St, St Johnsbury, VT 05819
(802) 748-6040

If clothing is too worn or cannot be donated, please repurpose into cleaning rags, gift wrap, in place of “bubble wrap” etc.

See CDs or DVDs
CD and DVD’s are not recyclable and must be placed in the trash if they cannot be repurposed.

See Electronics

Check out the Vermont E-Waste Recycling program for more details on the program.

Construction and Demolition materials are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources provides information about deconstruction here.

Construction and Demolition materials are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources provides information about deconstruction here.

If they are clean (empty and rinsed) plastics #1 and #2 only, place in your recycle bin.

See print cartridges

Recycle at point of purchase in most cases. Staples has a program that recycles all toners and cartridges in store or online – up to 10 per month. In some cases you may earn rebates toward future purchases. More information about the Staples program can be found here. Or click here for more information about free nationwide toner printer cartridge recycling services.

Click here for information about the Vermont E-Waste Recycling Program.

See wine corks

There are no recycling options for corks within St. Johnsbury. You can separate regular cork from imitation cork and bring them to the Cheese Traders & Wine Sellers in South Burlington or visit Recork.

Check with your school, nursing home or daycare as crayons can be used in craft projects. You can also send them to Crazy Crayon’s National Crayon Recycle Program.

Dehumidifiers are accepted for a fee at Wright Brothers Metal Recycling in Newport, VT or All Metals Recycling in Hardwick or Williston, VT.

Construction and Demolition materials are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

Habitat for Humanity ReStore’s will accept windows and doors. Click here for locations.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources provides information about deconstruction here.

Construction and Demolition materials are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources provides information about deconstruction here.

See also CDs and Game Disks

If unscratched, ReStore locations will accept.

CD and DVDs are not recyclable and must be placed in the trash if they cannot be repurposed.

If you know someone with chickens, they may like them. Paper ones can be placed in your recycling bin or composted. Styrofoam cartons go in trash.

Check out the Vermont E-Waste Recycling program for more details on the program.

Electronics are  accepted at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station. Covered electronics accepted at no cost include computers (including laptops), computer peripherals (mouse, keyboards, monitors), televisions (TV) and printers.

Additional electronics which are banned from disposal, but not accepted under the program are game consoles, telephones, personal music players (mp3 players), VCRs, DVD players, stereo equipment and fax machines. These may be charged a fee if brought to an electronic waste drop-off location.

Used eyeglasses can be donated year-round through collection boxes located at offices of members of the American Optometric Association, Goodwill stores and Lens Crafters and most optometrist offices.  Call 800-74-SIGHT for collection information.

Unwanted fire extinguishers – Vermont Fire Extinguisher – 476-6116. Standard dry chemical fire extinguishers can be safely discarded as long as they are empty.

Unwanted ammunition, road flares, and fireworks must be handled properly.  Call the State Police Explosives Unit 802-244-8727 before moving explosives and shock-sensitive materials. PLEASE do not dispose of any of these items in your trash. They are NOT accepted at the Household Hazardous Waste Collection days.

Fluorescent light bulbs and tubes (straight, circular and U-shaped), compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, UV radiation tubes, HID bulbs, and metal halide and sodium bulbs contain mercury and are all considered hazardous and should be brought to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection day.

Recycle clean foil and pie plates.

Compost food waste in your back yard. Feed leftover food to chickens if you have them. Donate extra food (unopened) to the Vermont Food Bank or local donation option here. Bring to any facility that accepts trash (such as the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station) or contract with a local hauler to pick-up at your home.

ReStore– 802-477-7800

These are hazardous waste and must be brought to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event.

Includes glass jars and bottles. Clean and place into your recycling bin. Window pane glass is not recyclable and must go into the trash.

See eyeglasses

This is not recyclable in your regular recycling.

Glassware that is considered Construction and Demolition materials are accepted for a fee at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

If glassware and ceramic containers can be repurposed then take them to same places as textiles/clothing:
Salvation Army
Local Thrift Shop
ReStore

Recycle unwanted or older hearing aids and assistive devices at the Starkey Hearing Foundation.  Securely package the donation and mail to:
Hear Now
6700 Washington Avenue South
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
866-354-3254

Household Hazardous Waste includes any household products labelled ‘caution, toxic, danger, hazard, warning, poisonous, reactive, corrosive, or flammable. You can bring household hazardous waste to any one of the scheduled Hazardous Waste Collection Events. Visit the HHW Events page for more information.

Bring to a Household Hazardous Waste collection event.

Needles, lancets and syringes used for home health care are not regulated and can go in the trash.  To protect workers in the waste industry, place all needles in a sealed container and label it “Sharps – Do Not Recycle.”  A plastic soda or laundry detergent bottle with a lid makes a good container, but remember any type of plastic bottle that you use to put needles in does not belong in your recycling bin.

Plastic irons can go in the regular trash. Metal irons can be recycled as scrap metal provided they do not contain a mercury switch (older irons would have one).

See also CD covers

Put in regular recycling

Bring to a Household Hazardous Waste collection event. If dried up can go in trash.

See catalogs

Bring to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event.

Containers with any quantity in them should come to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event.  Your local hardware store may take them as well. Both latex and acrylic paint are safe to go in the trash as long as the contents are completely dried up.  If there is a little bit in the can, take the lid off and let it air dry (keep away from children and pets).  If there is a lot in the can you can add saw dust or crumpled up newspaper and once that is dry, it can go in the trash. If you have a full can that you want to get rid of, contact 855-724-6809 or visit www.paintcare.org for a list of locations that accept paint.

Wood with lead paint is considered contaminated and needs to be disposed as a solid waste. Lead paint chips that have been scraped off wood siding, windows, furniture, etc. are consider household hazardous waste, and should be brought to a HHW collection.

Composting is the best answer for these types of materials. Piling leaves, brush and yard waste near your composter will provide you with ample material throughout the year to generate compost for your garden. You can rent a small chipper for little money to turn larger brush into mulch for your compost or garden. You can also bring leaf and yard waste to any facility that accepts trash between April-December or a Town Leaf and Yard Collection Day.

Place in your recycling bin.

Home generated medical waste can be disposed of in your regular household trash. For sharps, see Hypodermic needles/sharps.

Regulated medical waste (generated in the medical setting) requires special handling. Please contact Ben Gauthier with Vermont DEC at (802)522-5080 or Benjamin.Gauthier@vermont.gov with questions about regulated medical waste.

In most cases, unwanted medication should be placed in the trash. See pharmaceuticals or prescription pills.  Occasionally, disposal events are put on by law enforcement.  Check with local law enforcement when the next event would be in your area.

This includes mercury containing thermostats, bulbs, mercury switches, neon signs and other mercury containing products – can be brought to a Household Hazardous Waste Event.

In addition to these one day events, thermostats can be brought to Green Mountain Electric Supply and other local stores participating in the VT mercury program for thermostats. Bulbs can be brought to Aubuchon Hardware and other local stores participating in the VT mercury program for bulbs.

Microwaves are not considered electronic waste, they can be brought to the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

Recycle up to 5 gallons per visit at Bond Auto Parts, 590 Memorial Drive, St. Johnsbury.

Place in recycling bin. Newspapers MAY be used in compost – HOWEVER be sure that the makeup of your newspapers ink is compatible with the type of compost you are trying to harvest.

Bring to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event.

Bring to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event. Also, check out the PaintCare website (www.paintcare.org) for complete list of sites that collect o paints throughout the State of Vermont.

PaintCare sites accept house paint and primers, stains, sealers, and clear coatings (e.g., shellac and varnish) but we do not accept aerosols (spray cans), solvents, and products intended for industrial or non-architectural use. The products we accept are referred to as “PaintCare Products” or “architectural paint” and they must be in containers that are no larger than 5 gallons in size. Paint must be in its original container and the container must have the original manufacturer’s printed label and a secured lid to be accepted at retail drop-off sites. We cannot accept open or leaking cans. Please review the following detailed list to find out what can be accepted, prior to dropping off your paint.

You can also bring paint to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event. Also, check out the PaintCare website for a complete list of sites that collect paints throughout the State of Vermont.

Place in recycling bin.

Bring pesticides to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event.

Unused medications/pharmaceuticals can be dropped off at the St. Johnsbury Police Department or Caledonia County Sheriffs Office. You can also request a free medication mail-back envelope from the Department of Health here.

Place in recycling bin.

Remove any leftovers and place in recycling bin. If the box has grease on the inside then place in the trash.

First we encourage you to reuse them, or use cloth bags; don’t use plastic bags in the first place.
PLEASE do not place them in with your curbside or zero sort recycling. You can bring them to most major grocery store plastic bag recycling bins:

Plastic grocery bags get recycled at:

Shaws
Hannaford’s
Price Chopper

Plastics #1 and 2 are banned from disposal in Vermont. Place in recycling bin – must be empty and clean.

Return to the retailer for refill or exchange. The new style tanks are refillable. Please check with a local hardware store or convenience store for an exchange program. Empty handheld propane cylinders can go to the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station.

Recyclables can be dropped off at the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station. Must be clean (no food or other residue) and dry. You can also choose to have a hauler pick up your recyclables curbside.

Smoke detectors contain a small amount of radioactive material, which does not travel very far, even in air. Nonetheless, do not open the insides of a smoke detector, as that could remove the shielding, possibly exposing you to levels above background. Vermont residents may dispose of smoke detectors as trash.

Alternatively, smoke detectors may be mailed back to the manufacturer for recycling. Mail smoke detectors by surface or UPS ground mail. (Specify on the package that they should not be shipped via air.) Contact the manufacturer’s toll-free number for instructions and mailing address.

Two manufacturers that make a large percentage of the smoke detectors in use may be reached at the following numbers:

• First Alert/BRK Brands (Aurora, IL) 800-323-9005
• American Sensors (Canada) 800-387-4219

Businesses with smoke detectors should call the Vermont Environmental Assistance Division in at 1-800-974-9559, to receive information about proper disposal.

Clean (no food or other residue) steel cans can be placed into your recycling bin.

Styrofoam is not recyclable and can be placed in the trash.  Try purchasing products that do not contain Styrofoam.

See electronics

Tires not on the rim can be brought to the St. Johnsbury Transfer Station (fees apply).