What to Recycle
Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs)
Home Depot now recycles CFLs in all of their stores, as part of their EcoOptions inititiative. Home Depot Recycles CFLs Bring unbroken bulbs to your local Home Depot, put your bulbs into the plastic bags provided, and deposit them into the bright orange collection units. 12/15/2008
Packaging Materials
Plastic loose fill and Styrofoam peanuts can be recycled at Mercury Post and Parcel 121 24th Ave NW. [February 2008]
Plastic Shopping Bags
See our new Reusable Bag page!
Batteries
Alkaline batteries can be taken to the The City of Norman Annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day.
Rechargeable batteries (used in cell phones, power tools, PDAs, etc) are usually nickel-cadmium (nicad), lithium ion, or nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH). According to the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, the following sites recycle rechargeable batteries and cell phones in Norman. These batteries can also be returned to other retailers that sell them or through a mail-in recycling program.
- Best Buy - accepts cell phones, rechargeable batteries, and ink-jet cartridges
- Home Depot - Department 25 850 ED Noble Pkwy Norman, OK 73072
- Interstate All Battery Center 1065 36th Ave NW Norman, OK 73072
- Lowes - accepts cell phone batteries, but not the whole phone
- RadioShack 740 W Main St Norman, OK 73069
- Staples - accepts cellular phones, PDAs, pagers, digital cameras, and chargers through their nonprofit partner Collective Good.
Cell Phones
Cell phones are widely recycled. In addition to the stores listed under rechargeable batteries, the Referral Center (OKC drug treatment organization) has collection boxes all over OKC, and there are collection boxes around the OU campus. Any old working cell phone can be reprogrammed to call 911, so many community social welfare groups collect them.
- Best Buy - accepts cell phones, rechargeable batteries, and ink-jet cartridges
- Lowes - accepts cell phone batteries, but not the whole phone
- Staples - accepts cellular phones, PDAs, pagers, digital cameras, and chargers through their nonprofit partner Collective Good.
Electronics
Electronics include radios, televisions, computers, and other home appliances. They can be recycled at the The City of Norman Annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day.
The Salvation Army and Goodwill accept donations of working electronics, including compact discs (CDs)/DVDs, radios, clocks, computer monitors, computers, televisions, and video tapes.
- Goodwill
- Salvation Army
- Staples - accepts computers, monitors, laptops, and desktop printers, faxes and all–in–ones
GreenDisk offers another option for electronics recycling. For $30 they will send you a cardboard collection box for CDs, DVDs, jewel cases, videotapes, audio cassettes, ink and toner cartridges, cell phones, handheld computers, pagers, digital cameras, laptop computers, CD players and rechargeable batteries. When the box is full you can go to GreenDisk's website and schedule a U.S. Postal Service pickup (postage is included in the fee). GreenDisk will email you a packing slip. You just seal your box for delivery, attach the slip and set it out for pickup.
Printer Cartridges
Inkjet and toner cartridges can be recycled at an increasing number of locations. Be sure to ask if they give you anything in return!
- Best Buy - accepts cell phones, rechargeable batteries, and ink-jet cartridges
- FedEx Kinko's -
- Office Depot -
- OfficeMax - $3 per cartridge! only accept HP, Canon and Lexmark
- Staples - $3 per cartridge! only on HP, Lexmark and Dell (or support local schools by donating the proceeds). See their recycling page for more info.
- Walgreens - 10 free color prints per cartridge, but only certain brands
Auto Waste
This is a list of companies in Norman that will accept auto waste (compiled by Earth911). Locations that accept transmission fluid and motor oil ask that you not bring more that 5 gallons at a time and make sure that it is in a pourable container. It is a good idea to call ahead to be sure that the businesses still accept these materials and to check the hours of operation.
- Alameda Express Lube - 1300 Alameda (405) 364-5050 - Used Motor Oil
- AutoZone - Car Batteries, Transmission Fluid, Used Motor Oil, Used Oil Filters
- Avis Lube - 2000 West Main (405) 329-2531 - Used Motor Oil
- Jiffy Lube - Transmission Fluid, Used Motor Oil
- O'Reilly Auto Parts - Car Batteries, Transmission Fluid, Used Motor Oil
- Wal*Mart - Used Motor Oil
The City of Norman’s Transfer Station will accept used motor oil, used antifreeze and used oil filters in addition to tires. They also have a bin for kitchen grease since this can cause collection line problems. There is no charge to citizens but this is not for commercial use, residential waste only.
Tires
Norman citizens can take tires to the Transfer Station and put them in a trailer specifically for this purpose but there are some stipulations:
- No commercial tires, must be from Cleveland County residents
- No exempt tires (i.e. tractor tires, large off-road tires and equipment tires)
- No tires with rims
Tire recycling is provided by the Department of Environmental Quality.