If you have kids, you know the excitement and awe that comes with watching trash trucks and recycling trucks drive by. But did you know that the Southern Nevada Recycling Center in Vegas is the largest and smartest residential recycling center in North America?
The 110,000 square foot facility is home to highly advanced, state-of-the-art recycling technologies. Featuring an interactive Learning Center offering visitors a rare, first-hand view of the recycling process.
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Recycling Center in Vegas
Location
360 W. Cheyenne Ave
North Las Vegas, NV 89030
Entrance is on the northwest corner of N. Commerce St.
Hours
Who Has Access
The Southern Nevada Recycling Center is open to the public, however, you must schedule a tour to visit.
What To Recycle (So It Actually Gets Recycled!)
You know those numbers you see on packages with a number 1-7 in the middle? That’s important here! The recycling center in Vegas only accepts THREE OF THESE NUMBERS:
- #1 – PETE
- #2 – HDPE
- #5 – PP
So any other recycling numbers can get tossed as they will not get recycled here. If you have plastic bags from grocery stores, those cannot get recycled at the center, but instead can be brought back to the stores to reuse or recycle (most have a bin up front to toss them in!).
This includes the following recyclables that you may have:
- Plastics: Focus on plastics labeled with numbers 1, 2, and 5. These are commonly found on plastic bottles and jugs.
- Metals: Recycle aluminum and tin/steel cans.
- Glass: Recycle glass bottles and jars.
- Paper: Recycle clean paper products like newspapers, magazines, junk mail, and cardboard (including corrugated cardboard).
Know What To Throw
- Paper & Cardboard
- Flattened cardboard, newspaper, magazines, office paper and common mail can be recycled as long as they aren’t contaminated by food, liquid or waste.
- Metal Cans
- Before recycling food and drink cans, remove paper or plastic labels and clean out any residual materials.
- Plastic
- While hard plastic containers like water bottles, milk jugs and detergent containers can go in your container, flexible plastics like grocery bags, bubble wrap and styrofoam require special handling and can’t be recycled curbside.
No Connected or Mixed Materials
Okay, this can be frustrating, but if materials are mixed, they will end up going to the landfill (think paper mailers with bubble wrap on inside). So do not include mixed materials unless you separate them prior!
Don’t use BAGS!
Don’t bag your recyclables – place them in your recycling container loosely. Grocery bags and other flexible plastics will get caught in the machinery. Plus, they employees cannot open closed bags, so they will get throw in the landfill. CRAZY. I learned that all my shredded paper for years just went to the landfill because I had it tied up in a bag…
How to prepare your recyclables
Recycling Center in Vegas Tour
The number one question we were asked in our poll is how you can also tour the recycling center in Vegas with your friends, family, and extracurricular groups.
YOU CANNOT JUST SHOW UP FOR A TOUR. MUST HAVE AN APPT.
When can you schedule a tour?
Tours of the recycling center in Vegas are by appointment only Monday through Friday at either 9:30am, 11am, 1pm, or 3pm.
How can we set up a tour?
To schedule a tour, email RecycleVegas@republicservices.com.
Scheduling requires a minimum of 48 hours in advanced, but they are usually booked out, so don’t wait. There is a minimum of 5 people and maximum of 45 people per tour with no age limit so long as anyone under the age of 5 years old has adult supervision a minimum age of 5 as of May 1, 2025.
How much is a tour?
Tours are completely free and open to the public to book.
Frequently Asked Questions (from YOU!)
Some of these we have already answered above, but wanted a spot for them here just in case you are looking for something quickly!
How can we set up a tour?
To schedule a recycling center in Vegas tour, email RecycleVegas@republicservices.com.
See details above.
How to properly prep things for recycling?
Where to recycle batteries?
When it comes to light bulbs, batteries, and electronics – they can’t go in the recycling. However, you can learn about speciality recycling for them here.
I’m all about FREE though and often times local businesses will have used battery drop-offs for recycling.
Do bottles need to be cleaned out?
Yes! They need to be rinsed out with no liquid remaining inside. If it has food waste, it belongs in the trash. Just one dirty bottle can contaminate the contents of a whole recycling truck.
We talked about how recyclables are weighed based off of what product they are and if they are too far off from what they should be – empty- they will go to the landfill.
What can and can’t be recycled?
No soiled materials! Never allow more than one teaspoon of liquid to remain in a recyclable.
Where is this?
The Southern Nevada Recycling Center in Vegas is located at 360 W. Cheyenne Ave North Las Vegas, NV 89030.
Extended Learning
The Southern Nevada Recycling Center also offers at-home learning to extend the fun.
This free online program of engaging activities about recycling is designed to assist families in keeping the learning going while children are staying home from school. The program includes videos and fun activities that will keep your child or teen engaged, as well as “learning together” activities that family members may want to do with younger children, ages 3 to 10 – no teaching experience required!
You can access the main At-Home Learning page here from Pre-K to Grade 12.
Additionally, you can explore this beautifully illustrated book for even more learning about recycling!
To Recycle or To NOT Recycle?
Does your family recycle or do you skip it?
While there are a lot of steps to recycling here in the valley, there are a lot of benefits that come with recycling! It can definitely be confusing and I wish there weren’t so many guidelines when it comes to how to properly prep recycling materials and exactly what can be recycled because it does feel like it is way to easy for all of our hard recycling prep to be ruined by one container, thus sending everything to the landfill.
I would love for them to include composting weekly here to help with items going to the landfill as well. Let’s make it happen!
Have you visited the recycling center in Vegas, yet?