Home - Green Salem

To reduce trash tonnage in the City of Salem by increasing recycling, diverting reusable items, and motivating city stakeholders through education and information.

From book swaps to repair cafes to textile drives, we're creating spaces that empower our community members to live waste-free lives.

Providing community members with the resources to understand how to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

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Upcoming Events

March 26 @ 8:00 am

March 26 E-Waste Collection Day @ SHS

June 25 @ 8:00 am

June 25 E-Waste Collection Day @ SHS

September 24 @ 8:00 am

September 24 E-Waste Collection Day @ SHS

December 17 @ 8:00 am

December 17 E-Waste Collection Day @ SHS

Click Here for More Information About Each Event

Questions

FOR RECYCLING QUESTIONS

Contact

Micaela Guglielmi at
978-619-5672
mguglielmi@salem.com

Please call Waste Management at 800-972-4545 to

Report if trash/recycling is not picked up
Schedule bulk Item pick up
Schedule a white goods pick up
Schedule a broken bin to be repaired

or click here to use the online chat function

Click here to schedule a curbside clothing and textile pick up with HELPSY

A-Z Recycling Guide

Can I recycle it?

Not sure how to properly dispose of something? Check out our list to find places in Salem where you can recycle, donate, reuse, repair etc.

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Twitter Feed

SalemRecyclesFollow

Our mission is to motivate Salem residents, visitors, and businesses to recycle more and waste less.

Retweet on Twitter SalemRecycles Retweeted

Discounted orange overflow trash bags for $1 per bag (up to 5 bags/household), available December 20, 2021 -January 7, 2022 from the #SalemMA Collector’s Office, 93 Washington St, and the Community Life Center, 401 Bridge St, during regular business hours. https://www.salem.com/home/news/discounted-trash-overflow-bags-holidays

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Retweet on Twitter SalemRecycles Retweeted

Cities of #SalemMA & Beverly are partnering to offer residents a Styrofoam Collection Day. Community Life Center, 401 Bridge St, from 9am-1pm January 8th. Rigid white expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) only; no packaging peanuts or food service containers. https://www.salem.com/home/news/styrofoam-recycling-event

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Retweet on Twitter SalemRecycles Retweeted

Great work, #SalemMA! We've reduced recycling contamination from 28% three years ago, down to 9% last year, & now down further to just about 8% in 2021. Less contamination means more recycling tonnage, which is better for the planet & less costly to dispose of, saving the City $.

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Retweet on Twitter SalemRecycles Retweeted

New Recycling Options for #SalemMA Residents: TerraCycle Collection Bins Available at City Hall Annex
https://www.salem.com/home/news/new-recycling-options-salem-residents

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Retweet on Twitter SalemRecycles Retweeted

Make a morning of it in downtown #SalemMA on Saturday: get your vaccine or booster from the @MassGenBrigham mobile clinic, hit the @SalemYMCA, swing by the @SalemRecycles textile recycling drive (Riley Plaza 8AM-1PM)... https://twitter.com/CityofSalemMA/status/1460645810400600068

City of Salem MA@CityofSalemMA

.@MassGenBrigham will be providing free vaccinations and boosters at the @SalemYMCA, 1 Sewall Street in #SalemMA, this coming Saturday morning, November 20, from 9AM-Noon. You do not need to be a Mass General Brigham patient to receive the vaccine at this mobile clinic site. 2

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Instagram Feed

Some good news from our ongoing recycling efforts:

Some good news from our ongoing recycling efforts: our contamination rate has dropped to 8.3% in the 2021 audit! That’s down from 28% three years ago and 8.9% last year. Our goal had been to reduce contamination to under 10% and we reached it! These results keep us in Waste Management’s “best in class” category of its client municipalities. There are still some routes where we can make more progress, however; please see the graph below. It is important to remember that plastic films, bubble wrap, Styrofoam, liquid and food waste, wood, and scrap metal should NOT go in your recycling bin

Hang on to that rigid Styrofoam! Until January 8th

Hang on to that rigid Styrofoam! Until January 8th that is. Salem and Beverly have combined forces to put together a Styrofoam collection day. See flier image for details.

The City of Salem is excited to partner with Terra

The City of Salem is excited to partner with TerraCycle to offer permanent collection bins to recycle items that would otherwise be thrown in the trash. These items include:

Used, dried Swiffer pads.
All brands of reusable and disposable razors, blades, and cartridges, as well as any flexible or rigid plastic packaging they come in.
All brands of toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, mouthwash bottles, floss containers and soap and toothbrush packaging.
All brands of deodorant containers and caps.
All brands of empty writing instruments, glue sticks, watercolor dispensers, paint sets, and the flexible or rigid plastic packaging these items come in.
Please place these items in the proper collection bins located on the first floor of City Hall Annex, 98 Washington Street. The bins are in the lobby area around the corner from the elevators. City Hall Annex is open 8AM-4PM Mondays-Wednesdays, 8AM-7PM Thursdays, and 8AM-noon Fridays. Please make sure all items are empty (no toothpaste or deodorant residue inside) and dry. #TerraCycle

In a 3-hour event, SalemRecycles' volunteer fixers

In a 3-hour event, SalemRecycles' volunteer fixers were able to help 50 people repair and mend all these things! Saving them from the trash, textile recycling, and e-waste. The repair volunteers seem to have as much fun as the "customers." Thank you to all who participated!

Here are our TOP 10 reasons to recycle textiles at

Here are our TOP 10 reasons to recycle textiles at the Textiles & TerraCycle Recycling Drive, this Saturday, November 20 at Riley Plaza from 8-1. See you there! 👕👖👠👟👗👜

🔟 Pass along that impulse-buy outfit you wore one time.
9⃣ Satisfaction of knowing others will use clothing that has sat idle.
8⃣ Recycle clothing & linens that are worn, torn, and beyond usability.
7⃣ You'll likely never find the mate to that sock - let it go!
6⃣ Revel in having a dresser full of only things you love.
5⃣ Contribute to the re-use economy, saving water, energy, $.
4⃣ Production of new textiles is polluting - recycling minimizes this!
3⃣ Let our volunteers empty your car while you relax.
2⃣ Drop off TerraCycle items for recycling at the same time.
1⃣ Prepare for MA's new waste ban on Textiles - it begins Nov. 2022.
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#SalemRecycles #Salem #Recycling #Sustainability #RecycleRight #RecycleRightRecycleOften #RecycleSmart #RecycleSmartMA #Sustainability #SingleUse #Reduce #Reuse #Repair #Rethink #Refuse #choosetorefuse #Recover #ZeroWaste #TextileDrive #ClothingDrive #ClothingRecycling #TextileRecycling #ZeroWasteEvents #WasteDiversion #ClothesArentTrash #Donate #Clothes #Textiles #Fabric

Repost from @recyclesmartma Don’t end up with a

Repost from @recyclesmartma Don’t end up with a spooky amount of waste at your Halloween Party! 👻Here’s some sustainable tips.
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#Recycle #SalemRecycles #Recycling #ZeroWaste #Salem #RecycleRight #RecycleRightRecycleOften #RecycleSmart #RecycleSmartMA #Sustainability #SingleUse #Reduce #Reuse #Repair #Rethink #Refuse #choosetorefuse #Recover #bulkitems #wastemanagement #plastic #plasticiseverywhere #dowhatyoucan #lowwaste #reduce #Halloween #scary

This may look like recycling - but it's re-use!! T

This may look like recycling - but it's re-use!! This Salem resident reuses glass (and some plastic) pre-used containers for all sorts of things!

Example - no-one else in your house likes pasta sauce so it always goes bad before you can eat the whole jar? Baby food jars are the perfect single serve containers for freezing leftover pasta sauce for one!

Order matters in order to save maximum energy and resources. Reduce, REUSE and THEN recycle!

What do YOU re-use?

Countdown to SalemRecycles' Free Book Day on Sept.

Countdown to SalemRecycles' Free Book Day on Sept. 18! To join in the re-use fun, email Micaela at mguglielmi@salem.com, and let us know if you're gifting fiction, non-fiction, children's, or magazines. Refresh your bookshelves for fall reading 🤓 📗.

More at GreenSalem.com/event/free-book-day/

It's recycling audit time! Approximately once a ye

It's recycling audit time! Approximately once a year, Waste Management takes samples of our curbside recycling, letting us know how well we're doing, and how much contamination (non-recyclable material) we're placing in our blue bins. Let's put our best carts forward!

With Household Hazardous Waste Day around the corn

With Household Hazardous Waste Day around the corner, here's a reminder on proper paint disposal! Latex, water-based and acrylic paints may be dried out and placed in your household trash. Oil based paints must be disposed of at HHWD -- next one is 8/21

Reminder to follow your municipal recycling guidel

Reminder to follow your municipal recycling guidelines and Recycle Smart MA when deciding whether to recycle something! Items must be larger than a credit card in order to be recycled curbside, so these plastic coffee pods are a NOPE despite what the packaging says.

Thanks to KB for the photo as she gets a jump start on fall flavors 🎃.
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#Recycle #SalemRecycles #Recycling #ZeroWaste #Salem #RecycleRight #RecycleRightRecycleOften #RecycleSmart #RecycleSmartMA #Sustainability #SingleUse #Reduce #Reuse #Repair #Rethink #Refuse #choosetorefuse #Recover #bulkitems #wastemanagement #plastic #zerowasteirl #plastic #plasticiseverywhere #dowhatyoucan #zerowasteless #lesswaste #lowwaste #reduce #circulareconomy #recyclingisnotenough

Drop-off composting at Mack Park is easy as 1-2-3!

Drop-off composting at Mack Park is easy as 1-2-3!
1) Collect food scraps at home. We like this low bucket as it doesn't tip in the car. 2) Place a paper bag over your scrap bucket. Flip, and voila! 3) Place your bag of scraps into the Black Earth toter.

Alternatively, you may use a compostable bio-bag instead of paper. These totes are locked; receive the code by registering at Greensalem.com/programs/compost/.
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#Recycle #SalemRecycles #Recycling #ZeroWaste #Salem #RecycleRight #RecycleRightRecycleOften #RecycleSmart #RecycleSmartMA #Sustainability #SingleUse #Reduce #Reuse #Repair #Rethink #Refuse #compost #composting #blackearth #blackearthcompost

A reminder about trash and recycling cart placemen

A reminder about trash and recycling cart placement: please keep some space between carts and place carts in an open spot away from any cars, poles or trees.

This week: yard waste collection and E-Waste Day!

This week: yard waste collection and E-Waste Day!

Curbside yard waste collection takes place the week of June 21st on your trash day. Please place brown paper yard waste bags, or uncovered & labeled garbage cans, curbside on your trash day. Include only lawn clippings, leaves, brush, plants, & bundled branches no longer than 4' or wider than 4".

Electronic waste will be collected at the Salem State O’Keefe Center parking lot on Canal St on Saturday June 26th from 8-12noon. Bring anything with a plug!

#yardwaste #ewaste #electronicwaste #yardwastecollection

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