Clean refrigerators and freezers in working condition:

PG&E customers can schedule a free pick-up and will receive a $35 rebate per appliance. For program rules and to schedule a pick-up call PG&E's customer service at (800) 299-7573.

Refrigerators, freezers, stoves, washing machines and other large home appliances: You can drop these off for recycling at the locations listed below. Fees may apply. Click on the links for more information. Note that appliances may also be accepted through your hauler's bulky item collection. Contact your hauler for details.

Castroville:

A&S Metals
11340 Commercial Parkway, Castroville, CA 95012
(831) 633-3379

Salinas:

A&S Metals
456 Brunken Avenue, Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 424-3367

Sun Street Transfer Station
139 Sun Street, Salinas, CA 93901 (831) 424-5535

Gonzales:

Johnson Canyon Landfill
31400 Johnson Canyon Road
(831) 675-2165

King City:

Jolon Road Transfer Station
52654 Jolon Rd. King City, CA 93930
(831) 385-6213

Automotive products contain toxic substances and can be hazardous to people's health and the environment if they're not handled properly. However, many of these items can be recycled!

All of the automotive products listed below can be disposed of properly at the SVSWA's Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facilities in Salinas and Gonzales.

• Auto batteries
Car batteries, also referred to as a lead-acid battery, contain about 21 pounds of lead, three pounds of plastic and one gallon of sulfuric acid each! These materials pose a hazard to people's health and the environment if they're not handled properly.

Please recycle your car battery at one of the following locations, so that the materials can be reclaimed and made into new batteries.

Castroville: Pettigrew & Foletta Auto parts 10865 Merritt St (831) 633-2431 Gonzales: "ABOP" station at Johnson Canyon Landfill 31400 Johnson Canyon Road (831) 675-2165 Auto Zone 851 R 5th St. (831) 675-8444 King City: "ABOP" station at Jolon Road Transfer Station 52654 Jolon Road (831) 385-6213 Auto Zone 510 Canal Street (831) 385-0773 Kragen Auto Parts 815 Broadway (831) 385-8430 Prundedale: Auto Zone 17643 Vierra Canyon Rd. (831) 663-6820 Prunedale Lube Auto Care 8485 Prunedale Rd. North (831) 663-9400 Soledad: Kragen Auto Parts (5 gal max) 2233 H De La Rosa Sr St. (831) 678-3008

Salinas: Sun Street HHW Collection Facility 139 Sun St. (831) 424-5535 Auto Zone 1541 N. Sanborn Rd. (831) 772-0937 Auto Zone 1011 East Alisal (831) 757-1904 Auto Zone 1488 North Main Street (831) 444-0701 Bridgestone Firestone Store 150 Northridge Shopping Ctr. (831) 449-4434 Kragen Auto Parts 989 North Main Stree (831) 753-0829 Kragen Auto Parts 43A South Sanborn Road (831) 758-4626 Kragen Auto Parts 1219 South Main Sreet (831) 422-9074 Kragen Auto Parts 610 Williams Road (831) 757-4288 Lopez Auto Repair 102 West Market Street (831) 758-1993

• Antifreeze

  Antifreeze

  Antifreeze contains toxic chemicals that can cause serious health problems and even death. It is especially dangerous to animals and children because of its sweet taste. Two tablespoons of antifreeze can kill a small dog!
  
  Never dispose of spent antifreeze in the garbage, toilet, sink or storm drains. Please take it to one of the drop-off locations listed below for recycling.

  Gonzales: "ABOP" station at Johnson Canyon Landfill 31400 Johnson Canyon Road (831) 675-2165 King City: "ABOP" station at Jolon Road Transfer Station 52654 Jolon Rd (831) 385-6213 Owens Chevron 1 Broadway Circle (831) 385-5291 Prunedale: Prunedale Lube & Auto Care 8485 Prunedale Rd. North (831) 663-9400

  Salinas: "ABOP" station at Sun Street Transfer Station 139 Sun St. (831) 424-5535 Dick Adams Automotive 242 Griffin Street (831) 758-8277

  
  
• Transmission and brake fluid
• Motor oil
• Fuel additives
• Carburetor and fuel injection cleaners
• Air conditioning refrigerants
• Starter fluids
• Gasoline and diesel fuel

Car batteries, also referred to as a lead-acid battery, contain about 21 pounds of lead, three pounds of plastic and one gallon of sulfuric acid each! These materials pose a hazard to people's health and the environment if they're not handled properly.

Please recycle your car battery at one of the following locations, so that the materials can be reclaimed and made into new batteries.

Recording and data storage media such as CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes, video tapes and computer disks, as well as CD jewel cases can be recycled into new recording media. One company specializing in processing these materials is GreenDisk Inc.

While companies who have fairly large amounts of materials to recycle are charged a fee. GreenDisk Inc accepts small amounts from individuals for free.

GreenDisk Inc
(800) 305-DISK
www.greendisk.com

Never send cooking oils, fats or greases down the drain. Even small amounts can cause problems in your home plumbing or further down the sewer line. Instead, used cooking oil can be recycled into soaps, industrial lubricants, biodiesel and other products.

Cooking oil is accepted for recycling at SVSWA's Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility in Salinas and at:

Salinas Tallow Co.
1 Work Circle
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 422-6436

Construction and demolition debris includes concrete rubble, lumber, dirt (clean fill), drywall and other building material wastes. Most of these can be reused or recycled into new clean wood construction materials. The following locations accept construction and demolition debris. Fees apply.

Note: Keeping different types of building material wastes separate will result in significantly lower recycling charges.

Electronics include computers and monitors, computer equipment, televisions, printers, VCRs, cell phones, telephones, radios, digital watches, gameboys, joysticks, game accessories and microwave ovens.

Although these products are safe while in use, they are considered hazardous waste when discarded due to their content of heavy metals and other toxic chemicals. It has been illegal to put "e-waste" into the garbage since 2006.

Your options to recycle unwanted electronics:

1. Occasional "e-waste" collection drives held throughout the community. Watch for announcements in the local media and on our home page.
   
   
2. Electronics may be accepted through your hauler's bulky item collection. Contact your hauler directly for details.
   
   
3. Drop off "e-waste" at any of the following locations:

   Salinas: Sun Street Transfer Station 139 Sun Street Salinas, CA 93901 (831) 424-5535

   Gonzales: Johnson Canyon Landfill 31400 Johnson Canyon Road (831) 675-2165

   King City: Jolon Road Transfer Station 52654 Jolon Rd. King City, CA 93930 (831) 385-6213

Fluorescent tubes and bulbs are safe while in use but are considered hazardous waste when discarded. The reason is that they contain toxic mercury vapor and other heavy metals such as cadmium and lead. When fluorescent tubes and bulbs are broken or crushed in the landfill, heavy metals are released. They can contaminate soil and water, and harm wildlife.

Please drop off your spent fluorescent tubes and bulbs at the following locations for recycling.

Tip: Bundle and tape tubes together to avoid breakage.

Several charitable organizations in the Salinas Valley accept donations of edible food from both businesses and residents, to distribute to families and individuals in need. Call for details.

Salinas:

Second Harvest Food Bank of Monterey County
815 West Market St #5
(831) 758-1523
www.food4hungry.org

Victory Mission
43 Soledad St.
(831) 424-5688

Dorothy's Kitchen
30 Soledad St.
(831) 757-3838

Do you need to get rid of large items such as furniture, bed frames, appliances etc? If any of these items are in reusable condition, please consider donation to a local reuse business or charitable organization. Check our reuse guide for locations.

To dispose of bulky items you have several options:

1. On-call pick-up (single family homes only): Contact your hauler for fees, acceptable items, set-out rules and to schedule a bulky item pick-up.
   
   Salinas residents: Call BFI at (831) 775-3840
   
   Soledad, Gonzales and Greenfield residents: Call Tri-Cities Disposal & Recycling at (888) 678-6798
   
   King City residents: Call King City Disposal at (831) 385-3281
   
   
2. Bulky item collection events: Contact your hauler for dates, acceptable materials and set-out/drop-off rules (see phone numbers above).
   
   
3. Self-haul: You can drop off bulky items at any of the SVSWA's facilities. To download a fee schedule click here.

Curbside collection of holiday trees: For details and set-out rules check the curbside recycling page:

Curbside Recycling in Salinas
Curbside Recycling in Soledad, Gonzales, Greenfield
Curbside Recycling in King City

To redeem your old junker for scrap metal value contact these recyclers:

Castroville:

A&S Metals
11340 Commercial Pkwy
(831) 633-3379

Prunedale:

Peninsula Auto Wreckers
2950 El Camino Real North
(831) 663-3842

If you just want your vehicle towed free of charge try the following nationally operating organizations. Some will use your vehicle's value for charity and give you a tax write-off in return.
Note: SVSWA does not endorse or vouch for any of the organizations listed

www.junkmycar.com
(877) JUNK-MY-CAR

www.cars4causes.net
(800) 766-2273

Mattresses and box springs can be dropped off at three locations in the Salinas Valley. They are either sanitized for reuse, or dismantled to separate the wood, steel, foam and fibers. Some 93% of the materials can be recovered and made into new products. Fees may apply.

Salinas

Sun Street Transfer Station
139 Sun Street, Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 424-5535

Gonzales:

Johnson Canyon Landfill
31400 Johnson Canyon Road
(831) 675-2165

King City:

Jolon Road Transfer Station
52654 Jolon Rd. King City, CA 93930
(831) 385-6213

Drowning in packaging material that's too good to throw away? Next time you order something online or over the phone, suggest that it be packaged in environmentally friendly, recyclable materials. For example, crumpled newspaper works just as well for padding as do StyrofoamTM peanuts and bubble wrap. For a more "high tech" but equally eco-friendly cushioning alternative try ExpandOS.

To reuse packaging materials, see the tips below.

Moving boxes:
After you're done with your move, get rid of your boxes and help others by posting a free ad online offering your moving boxes for donation.

Manila and Kraft envelopes:
Most envelopes survive being mailed in sufficiently good shape to be reused, especially clasp or resealable envelopes. Apply new address labels and make sure there is a clear space for postage metering or fresh stamps.

Tip: By keeping these envelopes in the loop, you can promote recycling, too: stamping envelopes with a recycling message – "This envelope is being reused to reduce waste," or something similar – will alert your recipients to recycling possibilities.

Bubble wrap and polystyrene foam "peanuts":
Bag your clean packing "peanuts" and roll or fold up larger pieces of bubble wrap and drop them off for reuse at any of the following locations. Call first to confirm that the materials are accepted at that time.

Any UPS store

Salinas:

Prunedale:

Mailboxes Etc
17595 Vierra Canyon Rd
(831) 663-2800

Many older thermometers, thermostats, electrical switches, and gauges such as barometers and manometers contain mercury. To see if your thermostat contains mercury, carefully remove the front cover of the thermostat to look for a small ampoule containing a silver liquid. If you see this, you have a mercury thermostat.

Mercury is a heavy metal and extremely toxic. Just one gram - the amount in an old-fashioned mercury thermometer - can contaminate a 20-acre lake! Mercury can be absorbed by fish and other organisms and harm humans who eat the fish, causing long-term health problems such as damage to the kidneys and nervous system.
Tip: Double-bag mercury-containing items before you drop them off.

Every year Californians generate about one old tire for each person in the state. That's close to 40 million tires! Several million tires are already stockpiled throughout the state and many more are illegally dumped.

Abandoned tires are not only an eye sore but also dangerous. When rainwater accumulates inside the tires, they can provide prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes, transmitters of the West Nile Virus and other serious diseases.

Fortunately old tires can be given a new life. Tire rubber is ground up and recycled into surfacing material for playgrounds, or used as an ingredient for rubberized asphalt, a material that increasingly replaces conventional asphalt in road construction.

Salinas Valley residents have several options to recycle used tires:

1. Free waste tire collection week
   Once a year - usually in the fall - the SVSWA offers one week of free tire collection for residents. For information on the next collection, drop-off locations and rules, call us at (831) 775-3000.
   
   
2. Drop-off year round at the following locations. Non-rimmed tires only. Fees may apply.
   
   

   Salinas: Sun Street Transfer Station 139 Sun Street (831) 424-5535

   Gonzales: Johnson Canyon Landfill 31400 Johnson Canyon Road (831) 675-2165

   King City: Jolon Road Transfer Station 52654 Jolon Rd. (831) 385-6213

Spent toner cartridges from your laser printer, copier, desk jet or fax machine don't have to go to waste. Cartridge manufacturers or their recycling partners are happy to take them back to recondition parts, or recycle the materials.

Take-back by mail:
Many manufacturers let you use the box of the new cartridge to return the spent one to the company for recycling. Usually step-by-step mailing instructions and a shipping label are included, often postage paid.

Take-back at the store:
Most office supply stores offer in-store collection programs for cartridges, even those purchased elsewhere. Look for a drop-off box or ask a store employee. Local stores with toner cartridge take-back programs include:

You can also drop off toner cartridges free of charge at the SVSWA's Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facilities in Salinas and Gonzales.

Used motor oil is a hazardous waste and dangerous contaminant. Just one quart of motor oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of ground water. That's enough water to cover a football field more than one inch deep!

If you do your own oil change, please be careful to avoid spills and collect the oil and filter for recycling. Please use only the County's used motor oil recycling containers and filter bags, available for free from your garbage hauler and many used motor oil collection centers (see below).

Used motor oil and filter recycling is easy in the Salinas Valley. You have several options:

1. Curbside collection:
   Single-family homes can recycle used motor oil and filters on the curb on their regular collection day. For details and set-out rules, follow the links below:
   
   Curbside Recycling in Salinas
   Curbside Recycling Soledad, Gonzales, Greenfield
   Curbside Recycling in King City
   
   
2. Drop-off at a collection center:
   The following locations accept used motor oil and filters free of charge and/or provide used motor oil collection containers and filter bags:



	Accepts used motor oil	Accepts used oil filters	Free oil recycling containers
Castroville
Pettigrew & Foletta Auto Parts 10865 Merritt St. (831) 633-2431
Napa Auto Parts 1151 Merritt St. (831) 633-6271
Chualar
Alcala's Automotive Machine Shop 24311 Grant St. (831) 679-0146
Gonzales
Auto Zone 851 R 5th St. (831) 675-8444
"ABOP" station at Johnson Canyon Landfill 52654 Jolon Rd. (831) 675-2165
RAC Muffler & Tire 725 B Alta St. (831) 675-0223
Greenfield
Greenfield Towing & Tire Service 40251 El Camino Real
King City
Auto Zone 510 Canal Street (831) 385-0773
"ABOP" station Jolon Road Transfer Station 52654 Jolon Road (831) 385-6213
King City Tire 1011 Broadway (831) 385-6115
Kragen Auto Parts (5 gal max) 815 Broadway (831) 385-8430
Owens Chevron 1 Broadway Circle (831) 385-5291
Pajaro
Pajaro Auto Center 225 4B Salinas Rd. (831) 761-3430
Prunedale
Auto Zone 17643 Vierra Canyon Rd. (831) 663-6820
Dick's Valero Service 1040 El Camino Real (831) 663-3207
Prunedale Lube & Auto Care 8485 Prunedale Rd. North (831) 663-9400
Salinas
Auto Zone 1541 N. Sanborn Rd. (831) 772-0937
Auto Zone 1011 East Alisal St. (831) 757-1904
Auto Zone 1488 North Main St. (831) 444-0701
Bridgestone Firestone Store 150 Northridge Shopping Ctr. (831) 449-4434
Dick Adams Automotive 242 Griffin St. (831) 758-8277
Jiffy Lube 228 North Main Street (831) 422-5823
Kragen Auto Parts (5 gal max) 989 North Main St. (831) 753-0829
Kragen Auto Parts (5 gal max) 43A South Sanborn Rd (831) 758-4626
Kragen Auto Parts (5 gal max) 1219 South Main St. (831) 422-9074
Kragen Auto Parts (5 gal max) 610 Williams Road (831) 757-4288
Lopez Auto Repair 102 West Market St. (831) 758-1993
"ABOP" station Sun Street Transfer Station 139 Sun St. (831) 424-5535
Soledad
Kragen Auto Parts (5 gal max) 2233 H De La Rosa Sr St. (831) 678-3008