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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Recycling Kiosk Information

    Thank you for recycling! Each year our collective recycling efforts in Pennsylvania reduce carbon emissions equivalent to taking over 2 million vehicles from the road. The recycling marketplace supports over 175,000 jobs and creates over $50 billion in sales activities. For more information on the benefits of recycling, review the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center report on "The Economic Contributions of Recycling to the Pennsylvania Economy."

    The kiosks include separate bins for commonly recycled items in the office setting. If you have an item that needs to be recycled, but a bin is not available at the kiosk, please contact the building Recycling Coordinator. A list of onsite contacts for each kiosk deployed will be available to download. If you need additional assistance, please contact the DGS Recycling Office (717-772-2300) for instructions appropriate for your needs.

    Please do your best to keep materials separated. Always keep materials clean, dry, and free of contaminants. Keeping recyclables separated and clean in our kiosk helps to ensure each material can be recycled and maximizes the revenue the Commonwealth receives from the sale of the recyclables. 

    ​Plastic bags include grocery and shopping bags ONLY. Place plastic bags inside other plastic bags to increase density. A good practice is to tie a few knots in your bags, so they do not blow away and become litter. Bags can be recycled into plastic lumber products for the building and construction industry. 

    The Plastics bin in the kiosk is primarily for the collection of plastic bottles and jugs. Check for a number inside the symbol.  Markets vary across the state for plastics, so check with your local program or recycling coordinator on the number of plastic accepted (i.e. Plastic 1, 2 & 5). Remove caps before recycling.  

    Rinse plastics thoroughly. Items like yogurt containers, peanut butter, or mayonnaise jars that are not thoroughly rinsed will inevitably be removed from the recycling stream and discarded with the regular trash.  


    Keeping our paper clean maximizes our revenue and efficiency and adds value to the product we are collecting. Did you know that a clean collection of white office paper frequently can be recycled back into white paper? The Commonwealth only buys office paper with recycled content!

    Do NOT include glossy or laminated white paper with this material. 

    ​The newspaper and mixed paper bin is a catch-all for many other types of paper found around the office. You can still include the paper with staples and sticky notes attached. Below is a list of some of those common paper types found in the office which should be recycled in this bin.

    Acceptable mixed paper products:

    • Colored copier and bond paper
    • Ledger paper
    • Manila folders and files
    • Pamphlets, brochures, and magazines
    • Newspaper

      Note: rubber bands, staples, paper clips, and binder clips do not need to be removed; please reuse paper clips as much as possible.


    The kiosk collects glass bottles and jars. Do not place broken glass, ceramics, window glass or light bulbs into this bin. Please keep the glass clean and rinse thoroughly to ensure that it can be recycled.

    Did you know that glass can be recycled into more glass containers?

    The kiosk collects aluminum and steel cans only. Do not place aluminum foil or foil food containers into this bin.

    Did you know that recycled aluminum cans are nearly infinitely recyclable? Many of your recycled cans will have a quick turnaround (months) into new aluminum products. 

    Visit Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center to learn about the state of recycling in Pennsylvania. Hear from experts on recycling commercialization and new products and technologies.

    Recycling hotline: 1-800-346-4242.