I love this place! It is so convenient to come and drop off your recycling waste and help the environment at the same time. The facility is nicely run by competent and helpful workers and is operated very efficiently in everything from the drive-thru driveway, parking, and bin placement. There are several areas that are available for you to utilize and that is the main recycling area where you can drop off your glass/plastic bottles, batteries, cardboard, scrap metal, electronics, mixed papers, office papers, used motor oil and cooking oil, etc. You can drop off your unwanted clothing into the large lock bins and there is even a donation trailer where they can take your household goods and get a tax receipt. Whatever can't be recycled in the bins or donated can be left in the exchange zone where it is a free-for-all area where people can go and pick up other's usable items.
One thing I need to let you be aware of when you go to the recycling center that I really don't like is all the vultures (i.e people) loitering around looking into your car and your stuff waiting to pounce on anything you are leaving behind so they can pick it up and go sell it online or in their shops instead of going to the needy people or be recycled. The recycling center has rules and policies to deter people from picking up stuff from the bins unless it is in the exchange zone. But you get those people who will come up to you and pretend they work there asking if you have clothing or other goods to drop off. I just ignore them and put the stuff in the designated bins and keep a watchful eye on my car. One other thing to be aware of is if you are dropping off your electronics like laptops or computers please destroy the hard drive and when tossing the items into the bin, make sure to toss it far enough away that someone can't grab it. If the bin is full, ask a worker for a new bin.
Update: as of April 1, 2024 the exchange zone is temporarily closed for renovation. It will reopen tentatively on July 1st.
Update: August 2024. Exchange zone is now open with new rules and restrictions. See website for details. The whole experience is so much better now that it is monitored and there is no longer the loitering and people running up to you, looking into your car, yelling at you for things that they want to take from you which made the whole experience of going to the recycling center or donation truck an uncomfortable experience.
Another great experience dropping off stuff to get recycled.
Update May 2025: they optimized the layout a bit at the recycling center. The magazines that used to be at the Exchange Zone is now at the same section of the drop off circle where you can get clothes hangers, CDs, pots, and corks. Also, the electronics waste area has been expanded so you can securely drop off your data sensitive devices such as your laptop, tablet, and mobile phones.
Update: Fall 2025. Styrofoam is only for El Cerrito residents. Alternatively you can take it to National Recycling Corp in Oakland. They are the only ones nearby that take styrofoam free from the public.
WARNING: If you get there 3 minutes before their closing time, they won't let you in. Two cars before me had turned away, including me that makes 3 wasted trips. According to the door keeper, he was instructed by his supervisor Hymin(sp?) to close the door before official closing time of 4pm - good for them but waste of trip for us.
Too many rules about when / how / what you can drop off even for west contra costa residents. I come here and sometimes can use the service sometimes not. Even though I live in the county and pay taxes here. Very frustrating. It’s also not consistent when and which customer is asked. For example today I went to drop something off. Person before me no problem. Not a question asked. They went up and dropped it. I came up and was questioned and told no even though the person before got a free pass.
Great place to recycle. They don't take plastics so be sure to save yourself time by only bringing in broken down cardboard boxes, paper and whatnot. I get a lot of delivery boxes for my family and I and this is where I go to get them recycled
So clean and very well organized. Everyone was nice and helped out if needed. They take batteries, car battery, cardboard, books, whatever you need to recycle.
Well run, efficient and clean recycling center. Staff is very competent and polite. The center does not accept styrofoam, mattresses, and household appliances.
A much frequented "exchange" spot (currently under construction until July 2024) allows folks to deposit and take out objects: intact, and discarded useful things like books, kitchen ware, toys, decorative figurines etc ....
I am always glad when I see that my weeded out (but still good) things are of value for somebody else.
Finally, the recycling center is located at a beautiful natural site. This again highlights the beauty of our planet. All the more important to recycle!
I love that this a place to take recycling that isn't picked up curbside. I wish they would take more plastics other than No.1 and No. 2. They used to take Styrofoam. I believe they take Styrofoam from El Cerrito residents only.
Convenient and great service. I sought this out for Sharps Container disposal. It was a small fee for a non-Contra Costa resident for the sharps. I was able to get rid of an old DVD player and other electronics no charge. Friendly and helpful employees.
Of all the places we’ve lived across the country, this is the most seamless and intuitive set up. Staff are friendly too in case you have any questions. They have recycling days for specific items too, ie styrofoam (thought I can’t remember off the top of my head 😅). Come with your boxes broken down/flat ahead of time so you aren’t taking up too much time in a parking spot (the line moves relatively quick). You can bring almost anything from old cooking oil, to batteries, books and clothes. We never visited the repository to take anything back home with us, but from the car window everything looks neat and organized.
Brought a bunch of stuff here including batteries and old electronics. Makes it easy to efficiently drop off various items around the circle! Even if you don't have much to recycle, I recommend a visit just because it's very interesting how they have it set up. You'll leave feeling better about humanity!
Whenever we have any extra items to recycle, the Recycling Center is a quick trip away. The opening hours make it easy to go during the weekend and the ample parking space means I can dispose of extra items without hunting for a parking spot. It's really a great service for El Cerrito city residents.
Very nice community waste and recycle center for the household. Items taken include e-waste and books. There’s also a book repository that you can browse and take books from. Always the interesting.
Fantastic urban planning.....not only you can recycle large items that won't fit your garbage company's cans but also donate useable household items and books there. The facility is so well kept and organized in circular flow urban design. Highly recommend a visit....there is also a hiking trail next door for a easy run or stroll.
We are fortunate to have this great recycling center. It's a beautiful spot too. And sofar all staff i have encountered are all very pleasant. Ofcourse the book exchange is a plus
We all know how difficult it is to separate the waste and recycle them. This facility has done the excellent job in collecting the garbage, separating them, accepting the donations of food, books, useful stuffs and distributing them to needy ones.
People in the community can take their recyclables there and put them in corresponding designated bins.
This is a great place to recycle and they have an exchange zone where you can pick up useful stuff. The only bad thing is that some people dropp off their stuff and leave a mess in the exchange zone. Please don't do that, let's keep this area clean.🤔😃👍
This place is more often closed than opened. Today it was closed due to poor air quality. Everything else is open but the guys in the recycling center didn't feel safe to work. BTW, the air quality is "moderate" on the EPA website which is normal for the bay area. The hours are already reduced due to Covid, which is also ironic since this place is never crowded. I don't think I've ever came into contact with anyone withing 10 feet in that place... and it is outdoor. Typical government financed institution. They find any reason not to work but we have to pay taxes for their salaries.
A very well run place. Clean, efficient. Recycling crew very polite and helpful. The location in stunning. Beautiful nature around it. It feels good to help the planet. It is also great to have such competent, reliable facility like El Cerrito carrying out the task. Several bins and sectors. Tidy driveway, all around polite customers (no pushing). Plastic recycling is an issue since China falling-out. But our nation is required to come up with a plan. Recycling centers are just doing, what they can. In short: El Cerrito Recycling: Dignity for the planet and for the people. Our country used to be run like that, when taxes still paid for infrastructure.
Great place to do most of your recycling. Been going there for decades, and it keeps getting better.
Drawbacks are: no Styrofoam recycling, and you need to be an El Cerrito resident to drop off fluorescent bulbs.
a very pretty place with a myriad of choices which are normally hard to find.. the limits now imposed by the closing of Chinese recycling options.. ./ones which WE should have- such as recycling hard and soft plastics- could be remedied by more professional communication and finesse with other recyclers nationwide. .. as well, i feel their economic model is like their parking design.. lacking common-sense and creativity. That said, it's still a great spot, but shows it's at a limited state of development.
Very organized and easy to just drive up, unload recyclables and drive away. Includes free giveaway area. Recycling items is free and doesn’t require a fee like with many other places.
This place is great, although a bit akward on the entry as its unclear that you have to pass everything to go in counterclockwise in a circle to the loading areas. Just needs better signage I think. Everything is clean and has plenty of space to unload. Thank you El Cerrito:-D -Richmond and El Sobrante make recycling an unpleasant experience!
I've had nothing but great experiences here. I can drop off huge quantities of cardboard, all my old light bulbs, and dead batteries. If you have questions and can find a staff member, they're really helpful. For some items (like some types of lightbulbs, I think CFLs) make sure you bring proof of residency in El Cerrito or they won't take them. But I love having this place close by.
This would be 5 stars if it weren’t for the odd, backed in parking situation. It creates a lot of confusion and idling cars with people walking around nearby, causing a bit of stress.
Otherwise really great and they take just about any kind of recyclable materials. I usually just drop off cardboard and styrofoam from shipments, but noticed they have a swap area for higher value goods and electronics.
I love this place. It's exactly what a recycling very should be. You can even get rid of your old prescriptions responsibly! And they have a really nice, organized free space which is the best recycling of all. And it's solar!
Great for drop-off recycling. They take just about anything. The only downside to the place are the rude folks that go there to scavenge stuff to resell. Especially books. These parasites are generally rude, pushy and immediately descend on any donated books (and recycled products) to scour for items they can resell. As much as I love the idea of the book center there, I think at this point they'd be better off without it.
I love this place! Knowing it's there helps me to stay conscious of what I'm "consuming" and collecting. I love the ease of handing over items no longer useful to me. I love how everything is so easily labeled and organized. I love how easy it is to travel there. I love knowing that this is one place on the planet that is helping the Earth.
2350 Carquinez Ave, El Cerrito, CAGarbage collection service
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