All materials
How to Recycle Household
Common household items like furniture, appliances, textiles, and everyday objects.
20 materials covered10 recyclable
LED Light Bulbs
LED bulbs and lamps from household fixtures. Electronics rather than glass, and the only common bulb with no mercury question attached.
Learn how to recycle LED Light Bulbs
Fluorescent Bulbs
Compact fluorescent bulbs and linear tubes around the home. See the hazardous waste guide for the full breakage procedure and state landfill bans.
Learn how to recycle Fluorescent Bulbs
Mattresses
Innerspring, foam, and hybrid mattresses and box springs. Where you live decides the answer; see the furniture guide for fees, drop-off rules, and what a mattress is broken into.
Learn how to recycle Mattresses
Furniture
Wooden, metal, and upholstered furniture around the home. See the full furniture guides for the details that differ by material.
Learn how to recycle Furniture
Textiles/Clothing
Clothing, towels, and fabric items around the home. Damaged textiles still have a route, which is the part most people do not realize.
Learn how to recycle Textiles/Clothing
Small Appliances
Toasters, kettles, blenders, coffee makers, microwaves, and similar countertop appliances. Steel and copper with an electronics component, so never a curbside item.
Learn how to recycle Small Appliances
Large Appliances
Refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers, and window air conditioners. Mostly steel, but the refrigerant and the insulating foam are what determine how one should be handled.
Learn how to recycle Large Appliances
Books
Paperbacks, hardcovers, textbooks, and reference books. One of the few household materials that genuinely recycles as paper, with a hardcover exception people usually get wrong.
Learn how to recycle Books
Shoes
Trainers, dress shoes, boots, and sandals. Graded with textiles, and worth pairing up before they leave the house.
Learn how to recycle Shoes
Eyeglasses
Prescription glasses, readers, and frames. A reuse program rather than a recycling one, and one where the commonly listed drop-off points are out of date.
Learn how to recycle Eyeglasses
Toys
Plastic toys, board games, plush, and battery-powered toys. Donation is the main route, and recall checking before you pass one on is a legal duty rather than a courtesy.
Learn how to recycle Toys
Cookware
Pots, pans, baking sheets, and stockpots in steel, stainless, aluminum, and cast iron. Scrap metal at end of life, and worth donating long before that.
Learn how to recycle Cookware
Dishes/Dinnerware
Ceramic and porcelain plates, bowls, mugs, and serving dishes. Treated as dishware rather than glass, so donation is the only real diversion route.
Learn how to recycle Dishes/Dinnerware
Linens/Bedding
Sheets, pillowcases, towels, blankets, and duvets. Among the easiest textiles to rehome, because worn bedding still has obvious secondary uses.
Learn how to recycle Linens/Bedding
Candles
Jar candles, votives, pillars, and tealights. The wax is trash, the container usually is not, and the drain is the one place none of it should go.
Learn how to recycle Candles
Holiday Decorations
Ornaments, artificial and live trees, wreaths, garlands, and tinsel. Mostly a donation category, with live trees the one genuine composting route and flocking the disqualifier people miss.
Learn how to recycle Holiday Decorations
Sporting Goods
Exercise equipment, team sports gear, and recreational items. Durable, seasonal, and multi-material, which makes it excellent for reuse and hopeless for recycling.
Learn how to recycle Sporting Goods
Garden Tools
Shovels, rakes, hand tools, hoses, and powered equipment such as mowers, trimmers, and blowers. Simple scrap once the fluids and non-metal parts are dealt with.
Learn how to recycle Garden Tools
Plastic Plant Pots
Nursery pots, trays, and cell packs. Genuinely recyclable through a retail take-back route, and genuinely invisible to the machinery that sorts curbside plastics.
Learn how to recycle Plastic Plant Pots
Holiday Lights
Incandescent and LED holiday light strings. Copper-bearing, genuinely recyclable by mail, and a well-known hazard to sorting machinery if binned.
Learn how to recycle Holiday Lights
Find household recycling centers
Browse recycling listings for household, then contact a facility to confirm what it accepts.
Giving Household Items a Second Life
Reduce & Reuse First
The best way to "recycle" household items is to extend their life. Donation, repair, and selling are superior to recycling or landfilling.
- • Furniture: Donate if usable, upcycle if slightly worn
- • Appliances: Repair or scrap for metal
- • Decor/Books: Thrift stores and libraries
- • Toys: Donation centers, hospitals, shelters
Donation Impact
Donated goods support charitable causes, provide affordable items to the community, and keep millions of tons out of landfills.
Before Donating:
- • Clean items thoroughly
- • Check that appliances work
- • Ensure no missing pieces (games, puzzles)
- • Verify the charity accepts these items
Household Recycling FAQ
Where can I donate furniture?
Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and local shelters often accept furniture. Many offer pickup services for large items. Items must be clean and structurally sound.
How do I dispose of a mattress?
Mattresses are difficult to landfill. Check if your retailer recycles old ones upon delivery. Specialty recyclers can break them down into steel, foam, and wood.
Can I recycle pots and pans?
Yes! Metal cookware is scrap metal. Non-stick pans can also be recycled with scrap metal (the coating burns off). Don't put them in curbside bins; take to a scrap yard.
Are donations tax-deductible?
Yes, if you donate to a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. You can deduct the fair market value of the items. Always ask for a receipt and keep photos of high-value items.