“Hot” new look coming soon for Miami-Dade County’s blue recycling carts

Miami-Dade County’s curbside residential recycling customers will soon start seeing something new on their blue recycling carts.  The Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM) has announced that all new recycling carts will include information on what can and cannot be recycled in the County’s residential recycling program, embossed or “hot stamped” on the lid. 

“We are very excited about this new program to reinforce the message to our residents about what can and can’t be recycled,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.  “Just one incorrect item could render an entire cart of correct items no longer recyclable.  With these new carts, we hope our community will join us to ‘recycle right,’ and together we can make Miami-Dade a Zero Waste County!”

The County’s recycling contamination rate—the amount of incorrect materials found in the recycling stream—went down last year by nearly 10 % from a high of approximately 49 % in 2020, during the Covid pandemic.  

“This is the ideal place to meet our recycling customers with information on the correct items to recycle—right as they put their recyclables in their cart,” said Olga Espinosa-Anderson, DSWM Interim Director.  “And it’s longer lasting than a sticker.”

The new design won’t be affected by rain or sun, and we hope it will help to further reduce the amount of contamination in our recycling stream. New carts will be phased in over time.  New Miami-Dade recycling customers will receive the new carts, as will existing customers seeking to repair or replace a damaged recycling cart or request an additional recycling cart.  

For more information about Miami-Dade’s recycling program, visit miamidade.gov/recycling. 

Editor’s note: you can download a graphic of the hot stamp image and a close-up photo of a recycling cart lid with the hot stamp on it from here.