Curbside recycling
Remember to reduce and reuse as well as recycle
Residents can recycle various plastic, glass, paper and other materials by placing them in dedicated recycling containers at the curbside. This service is provided by the Mercer County Improvement Authority (MCIA) for all Princeton:
- Information on exactly what can be recycled
- More about curbside recycling in Mercer County, e.g. missed collections, replacement buckets etc
Food waste
If you live in Princeton, why not give curbside food/organic waste composting a try? Organic kitchen waste (food leftovers, napkins, pizza boxes, etc.) and yard waste (small sticks & branches, weeds, leaves, etc.) will be collected from your curb separately from other recyclables and non-recyclable waste. The organic waste is turned into compost instead of being dumped into landfill.
Other recycling
If something isn’t eligible for curbside recycling, you may still be able to recycle it in some other way, or give it away (for example, via Princeton Freecycle or Craigslist).
Clothes drop off at the Princeton High School.
- Plastic bags: many grocery stores, such as McCaffrey’s Market in the Princeton Shopping Center, collect clean bags for recycling.
- Light bulbs: compact fluorescent bulbs can be dropped off at a branch of major hardware stores.
- Polystyrene / styrofoam blocks and packing peanuts can be dropped off at certain locations.
- Electronic items (e.g. computers, printers and microwaves) and chemical waste, such as oil-based paint, pesticides, and anti-freeze: Princeton residents can take these to disposal locations on specific dates. Collection dates and locations in Mercer County.
- Clothes, books, bikes and other household goods. Certain good quality used books can be dropped off at the Princeton Public Library (details). Various organizations collect clothes and other items from your door; watch out for the mailers. There are collection bins for clothes at various locations in town, or you could take them to a charity dropoff location. You could also try Freecycling unwanted household items: advertising them to a local group of several thousand residents in Princeton and surrounding areas, to see if someone will come pick them up from your porch or driveway.
For more advice on how to recycle items not included in the curbside program, see the Recycle NJ website.