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About Berkeley Curbside Recycling

(510) 527-5555
1231 Second Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
Hours: Monday through Friday 7:00am-3:00pm

Berkeley Recycling Surveys for Apartments and Condominiums (Residents and Owner/Managers)

Live in a small apartment building or condominium (9 units or less) in Berkeley? Please tell us what you think of the recycling program and how it could be improved. All participants will be entered in a raffle for gift certificates, movie tickets, phone cards, bus passes or groceries. Buildings in which more than half of the households turn in completed surveys will be entered in a special $100 raffle. Own or manage a small apartment building or condominium? We'd like your feedback as well!

Recycled Content, Fall 2005Read about Berkeley's commitment to Zero Waste in the latest issue of our newsletter, "Recycled Content."

Now you can recycle used motor oil in Berkeley! Find out more about how to have a free used oil recycling kit delivered you and where to drop off the used oil.

Cash for Trash 2003Click here to read about what we learned from this year's Cash for Trash contest.


Ecology Center has been recycling in Berkeley for over 30 years! We were the first in the state of California to operate a curbside recycling program and one of the first in the country! We are one of the few nonprofit recycling collectors still alive today.

We provide service to all 1- through 9-unit Berkeley households. For recycling in buildings with 10 units or more, or for business recycling, please contact the City of Berkeley's Commercial Recycling Program. For information about yard waste recycling (the green bins), please contact the City of Berkeley's Plant Debris Collection Program.

Why our program is unique:

We began recycling 30 years ago because of our desire and belief in saving natural resources. As recycling has grown into its own industry, and has become an opportunity for big garbage companies to make more money, we have battled to stay alive and recycle for the right reasons. We guarantee that whatever we collect will be recycled, and never buried in a landfill because market prices fall below a profitable level.

We also maintain and insist on the highest standards possible to assure that the materials we collect are actually recycled back into the highest end-use possible. This helps close the loop when a glass bottle becomes a glass bottle again rather than asphalt or sand.

Are you a Berkeley resident?

The Ecology Center currently holds a contract with the City of Berkeley to provide curbside recycling services. Money earned through this contract helps fund our other work as well, such as our environmental library and resource center, the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets and our magazine, Terrain.

We are asking for community support by encouraging Berkeley residents to persuade city councilmembers to renew our recycling contract. Berkeley is lucky to have a model environmental resource center that it can share with neighboring communities. The combination of our recycling program and membership support helps keep that resource alive.