10 items banned from landfills — and what to do with them instead
You know there are certain items that can’t go in your recycling bin. But did you know there are things that can’t go in your garbage? Given their potential to cause environmental damage or endanger human health — or in some cases, due to their value as a recyclable material — many states ban certain common household items from landfills.
New State, New Rules
If you’ve ever moved from state to state — or even within states — you know that rules and regulations regarding waste and recycling vary by location. There are about 2,600 landfills in the United States, all governed by the states in which they are located.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets the federal criteria for operating municipal solid waste landfills, then states may set more stringent rules if they wish. It's one of the reasons we have 50 different states with far more than 50 different sets of rules regarding trash and recycling, since regulations vary from municipality to municipality, too.
Making Sense of Recycling and Trash Guidelines
Did you know that oyster shells are banned from landfill disposal in North Carolina? That’s right, in this coastal state, they are considered so valuable for building new oyster reefs that it’s illegal to put them in your trash. In North Dakota, animal manure cannot be disposed of in landfills; the state recommends using it as fertilizer instead. And in Vermont, common recyclables — glass jars, aluminum cans, cardboard, and newspaper — are all banned from landfills.
What’s banned where you live? America’s mishmash of waste management and recycling regulations can easily frustrate people trying to figure out what goes where. Adding more complexity to the mix, businesses are often subject to stricter rules than households.
That’s exactly why we created Recycle By City — to take the guesswork out of what goes in your trash and recycling bins with easy-to-use local guides.
We’ve put together a list of 10 materials that are often banned from landfills. Always check your local regulations to see what’s allowed — and not allowed — where you live. Our Household Guides eliminate the guesswork.
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1. Car Batteries
Why This Material Is Often Banned: Lead-acid batteries, which can be found in cars, motorcycles, and RVs, are harmful to the environment if they leak and spill. If placed in a landfill, these batteries may corrode and release lead and lead-contaminated sulfuric acid.
What To Do Instead: Most states ban the disposal of lead-acid batteries. Drop your used battery off at an auto service center, exchange your old one for a new battery, or sell it to a salvage yard or recycling center. Lead from used batteries can be recycled to make new batteries and cable coverings, among other items.
2. Motor Oil
Why This Material Is Often Banned: Motor oil poses a significant danger to the environment. Just one gallon can make a million gallons of fresh water undrinkable. A film of oil atop the water blocks oxygen and sunlight, making it harder for plants to grow and damaging an entire ecosystem.
Even in the few states that do not outright ban household-generated motor oil from landfills, such as Alabama, alternate disposal options are strongly encouraged. (And for residents who dispose of used oil via the regular trash, Alabama recommends first absorbing the liquid with a non-biodegradable absorbent like sand or kitty litter.)
What To Do Instead: Save oil in a leak-proof container. Don’t mix your oil with other liquids, like windshield washer fluid, since that will prevent it from being recycled. Drop off your used oil at a vehicle service center that accepts used oil or take it to a local hazardous waste disposal center. Your used oil will gain a second life when it's refined into lubricants, processed into fuel oils, or used as raw materials for the refining and petrochemical industries.
3. Hazardous Chemicals
Why This Material Is Often Banned: Items like oil-based paints and paint thinner, lawn chemicals, cleaning products, and pesticides can pose dangers to humans and the environment when they are thrown away. Look on the label, and if you see words like “warning,” “hazardous,” “toxic,” “flammable,” “oxidizer,” “caution,” “poison” or “corrosive,” that means you should NOT be throwing that item away in your garbage can.
What To Do Instead: Take your items to a hazardous waste disposal facility or find additional disposal options in our household recycling guides.
4. Mercury-Containing Products
Why This Material Is Often Banned: Items like fluorescent bulbs, CFLs, thermostats, thermometers, and barometers may contain mercury. If it’s not safely enclosed, mercury can cause severe health and environmental problems.
What To Do Instead: Take your items to a hazardous waste collection site. Hardware stores, such as Lowe’s, often have disposal bins for mercury-containing bulbs.
5. Used Tires
Why This Material Is Often Banned: Nearly 300 million worn-out tires are discarded each year in the United States. They are banned from landfills in most states because they have a tendency to rise to the surface of the landfill and their shape invites a watery home for disease-carrying insects. Plus, they pose a fire risk.
What To Do Instead: Tire retailers typically accept your old car tires when you purchase new ones. Some states also have special tire recycling facilities that will take your tires. They can be recycled into products like rubber-modified asphalt, automotive products, landscaping mulch, and tire-derived fuel.
6. Yard Waste
Why This Material Is Often Banned: Many states ban yard waste from trash and recycling bins. There are a few reasons why your local landfills don’t want your grass clippings, leaves, and tree branches. For one, they take up a lot of space. These decomposing organics also release methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.
What To Do Instead: Many communities offer separate yard waste collection services, either for free or for a fee. For other debris like rocks or large branches, contact a landscape or yard waste removal company. You can also leave clippings and leaves on your grass (a practice known as grasscycling), or compost them.
7. Computers and other electronics
Why This Material Is Often Banned: Electronics like computers, televisions, printers, faxes, DVD players, and video game consoles contain materials that can be hazardous to land and water. Electronics also contain precious metals that can be recaptured through recycling. Many states ban all or certain electronics from curbside recycling and trash programs.
What To Do Instead: Recycle your electronics with a licensed electronics recycler or take them to a community e-waste collection event. We’ve got you covered with details about where and when to drop off your electronics in our local guides.
8. Rechargeable Batteries
Why This Material Is Often Banned: So many of the items we use every day run on rechargeable batteries. Nickel-cadmium batteries, sometimes abbreviated Ni-Cd, power cordless power tools, cordless phones, and digital cameras. Lithium-ion batteries are often found in cell phones, computers, children’s toys, and e-cigarettes. These batteries can be harmful to humans and the environment if they are not properly disposed of.
Lithium-ion batteries can be particularly problematic. According to a 2024 report from the National Waste & Recycling Association, more than 5,000 fires occur annually at trash and recycling facilities, and increasingly they are caused by lithium-ion batteries. Never put rechargeable, button-cell, coin, or lithium single-use batteries in your recycling or trash bins.
What To Do Instead: Bring rechargeable batteries to a local hazardous household waste collection site. Batteries often contain valuable minerals that can be recovered for reuse. If you’re getting rid of an electronic device, don’t take the battery out — just bring it to an electronics recycling site.
9. Large Appliances
Why This Material Is Often Banned: Household appliances may contain components that are harmful to the environment, like mercury switches, chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerant gas (Freon), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These large appliances, such as refrigerators, air conditioning units, freezers, ranges, and water heaters, are sometimes called white goods.
What To Do Instead: Appliances that are still in working condition should be donated. If you’re purchasing a new appliance, ask the retailer if they will take away your old appliance; many do. You can also check if your location has a recycling or scrap collection center that will accept your old appliance.
10. Aluminum Cans
Why This Material Is Often Banned:Aluminum is one of recycling’s biggest success stories. But unfortunately, $800 million worth of aluminum still ends up in landfills each year. By banning aluminum cans from the trash, local governments redirect this recyclable to the recycling bin.
What To Do Instead:This one’s easy. Toss your aluminum cans in your recycling bin! Like steel and glass, aluminum cans are infinitely recyclable, and that’s why 75% of all the aluminum ever produced is still in use! Keep it out of the landfill and in the recycling loop.
Stay Ahead of Changing Trash and Recycling Rules
If there’s one constant in the waste management world, it’s that guidelines for trash and recycling are always changing. One new trend: a shift toward keeping food waste out of the landfill. In the United States, one-third of food produced is never eaten, and that food often ends up in a landfill, where it decomposes and releases harmful methane gas.
Cities and states like Chicago, California, Washington, and New York City have introduced new guidelines designed to keep more food waste out of the landfill by diverting it to composting programs.
What changes are coming to your curb? We’ll continue to keep you posted with our easy-to-use household guides.
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