Bottle and Can Recycling at Food Service Establishments

Only food service establishments generate enough cans and bottles to make the expense and environmental burden of sending a separate truck to collect these recyclables worth it. Other types of businesses generate relatively small amounts of cans and bottles.

While it is relatively easy to set up a system in these businesses for employees to separate their cans and bottles, the financial and ecological benefit of recycling them is vastly outweighed by the trucking involved in picking them separately and transporting them to a recycling facility.

See NYC business recycling for more info.

If you don't believe that a particular food service establishment is recycling, call the NYC Citizens' Service Center at 311 or report a commercial recycling violation on the Sanitation website.