Guide for Reuse, Repair, Recycling, and Safe Disposal
for Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and the City of Palo Alto

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Plastic Bags

Plastic bags are a type of plastic film that is designed to contain goods.

When shopping or dining out, bring your reusables, reuse plastic and paper bags, or refuse a bag and hand carry items when possible.

Donate neatly folded reusable plastic bag of bags to a local animal shelter or rescue group or food pantry, or stuff newspaper bags to dispensers at local dog parks,or to the community for use by small businesses and residents.

Businesses in Alameda County can use the Bin Liner by City Tool to determine what kind of indoor bin liner your trash, organics, or recycling bin can have. Bag Laws: Alameda County, State of California, City of Berkeley, Overview of the aforementioned laws.

Vendors

Vendor Address City Destination Disposal Method Notes
Cole Hardware, Vallejo St. 627 Vallejo St San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Trader Joe's (22224 Redwood Road) 22224 Redwood Road Castro Valley Recycle Free Drop-off Clean film plastic
Trader Joe's (2217 South Shore Center) 2217 South Shore Center Alameda Recycle Free Drop-off Clean film plastic
Safeway (1701 Santa Rita Rd) 1701 Santa Rita Rd Pleasanton Recycle Free Drop-off Clean film plastic
Safeway 3350 Mission St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off Recycle only clean and dry plastic bags.
Target (4300 Las Positas Rd) 4300 Las Positas Rd Livermore Recycle Free Drop-off Clean film plastic
Cole Hardware 70 4th St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
Trader Joe's 265 Winston Dr. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
NexTrex
331 Apple Valley Rd
Winchester Recycle Free Drop-off bread bags, dry cleaning bags, newspaper bags, ice bags, resealable food bags, cereal bags, case overwrap, salt bags, pallet wrap & stretch film, wood pellet bags, produce bags
PlasticsMarkets.org - Plastics Recycling Directory PO Box 1327 Sonoma Recycle Pick-up for a Fee, Buyback Mail-in Connecting recycled plastics buyers & suppliers. This site's purpose is to connect suppliers and buyers of all types of scrap plastic (from bales to post consumer resin). It's supported by the plastics industry and intended for use by the recycling industry in North America.
TerraCycle 121 New York Ave Trenton Recycle Pick-up for a Fee
Trader Joe's (1885 University Ave) 1885 University Ave. Berkeley Recycle Free Drop-off Clean film plastic
Safeway (3902 Washington Blvd) 3902 Washington Blvd Fremont Recycle Free Drop-off Clean film plastic. Ask the manager if bin is no longer at the front for customer bag collection.
Safeway 350 Bay St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off Recycle only clean and dry plastic bags.
Target (7200 Amador Plaza Rd) 7200 Amador Plaza Rd Dublin Recycle Free Drop-off Clean film plastic
Cole Hardware 956 Cole St. San Francisco Recycle Free Drop-off
BagandFilmRecycling Drop-Off Location Finder PO Box 358 Sonoma Recycle Free Drop-off See website for accepted items and current collection locations. Contact this organization directly regarding updates.
Sprouts (Albany) 1075 Monroe St Albany Recycle Free Drop-off Plastic film and bags collection bin at entrance.
Trader Joe's (3250 Lakeshore Ave) 3250 Lakeshore Ave. Oakland Recycle Free Drop-off Clean film plastic
Whole Foods Market (South Berkeley) 3000 Telegraph Ave Berkeley Recycle Free Drop-off

Curbside Service

Recycling Garbage Note
Alameda
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Albany
Consider reuse of clean, dry plastic bags. Albany does not accept plastic bags for recycling.
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Berkeley
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Castro Valley Sanitary District
When collected as bag-of-bags for Recycling Cart/Bin or for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment. Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash.
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Dublin
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Emeryville
Emeryville does not accept plastic bags for recycling.
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Fremont
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Hayward
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Hayward (Oro Loma - L2)
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Livermore
When collected as bag-of-bags for Recycling Cart/Bin or for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment. Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash.
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Newark
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Oakland
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Piedmont
Dirty, wet plastic film belongs in the trash. Clean, dry flim/flimsy/soft plastics in a plastic bag-of-bags accepted and can be droped at grocery stores, must be clean and dry. Loose film jams recycling equipment.
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Pleasanton
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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San Leandro
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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San Leandro (Oro Loma - L3)
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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San Lorenzo (Oro Loma)
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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Unincorporated Oro Loma (L1)
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Do not put loose bags in the recycling cart as they jam the recycling equipment.
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Union City
Dirty, wet plastic bags belongs in the trash. If collected as bag-of-bags for grocery store drop-off, must be clean and dry. Loose bags jam recycling equipment.
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