Reuse & Recycle

Massachusetts law prohibits certain items from being included in the trash including recyclable paper, plastics, glass, leaves, textiles, electronics, white metal, and mattresses. Here's a summary of recycling and trash in Hopkinton:

• Curbside pickup of paper, glass, metal (free)

• Drop off: electronics (fee), white metal, leaf and brush, as well as items accepted in curbside recycling

• See the DPW Web page for hours and fees

• Follow the DPW recycling guidelines (like no film plastics) to help make the process more efficient and valuable

• Or visit the easy-to-use and extensive guide at RecycleSmartMA.org to quickly check if something can be recycled, to understand why, and to learn tips like this one - plastic can be recyled if it's a bottle, jar, jug, or tub.

• Schedule a pickup from Helpsy for textiles to be recycled, once you have 3 bags worth

• Hazardous waste can be brought to the DPW once a year, usually in July, or see other options below

• Watch this video about how the recycling operation for Hopkinton works

• Hopkinton trash collection is via weekly curbside pickup of containers. For extra trash, use a bag you can buy at Price Chopper. Our trash is incinerated.

• Recycling for kids guide - The Environmental Club for Girls in Bay Minette, AL, came across this resource when doing research for a project on sustainability and wanted to share it with us. They found HopGreen.org to be a helpful website for their research. Thank you to the club for your work and for sharing the resource!

Batteries contain precious elements that can be recycled in some cases, and in other cases may contain unsafe chemicals. Recycle them properly.

Some of these batteries can be recycled at Staples. Here are other options:

• Alkaline and Zinc Carbon batteries (e.g. AA, 9 Volt) - they can be put in household trash

• Button or coin batteries (e.g. like in certain remote control devices) - take to the town's hazardous waste day

•  Lithium single use batteries (have "Lithium" label on them) - take to the town's hazardous waste day

• Removable rechargeable batteries (like for cordless tools) -  take to the town's hazardous waste day

• Non-removable rechargeable batteries - look for a retailer that takes them back or a recycler (use search.earth911.com)

• Car batteries - give back to retailer or take to the town's hazardous waste day

More info from the EPA

The public library or St. Paul's on Wood St. drop off bin

• All stores accept items sold at their store, like Price Chopper

• Local non-profit collections like:

  • Scouts - collect cans at Ice House Pond on a regular basis, usually Saturdays - look for signs there (near 50 W Main St.)

  • Senior Center - accepts cans on Saturdays at the recycling center (394 Wood St), or drop them at the bin behind the center anytime

  • St. John's the Evangelist has some collections throughout the year

Are collected by Boy Scout Troop 4

• St. John's the Evangelist on Church St. with the Knights of Columbus

• Sacred Heart on Main St. in Milford

Are a great way to find used items and sell or donate them for others to use - do an online search for locations and hours

Expired or unused packs can be recycled at Hopkinton Vision Center or Hopkinton Eye Associates

•  At Best Buy:  from cables to printers to TVs. Some have a fee and there are daily limits

• Boy Scout Troop 4

• Staples - recycle for free, everything from ink and toner cartridges to printers, keyboards, and cellphones

Donate used eyeglasses via dropboxes in town, sponsored by the Hopkinton Lions Club: see locations here

• Mulch - free chip mulch from Chipdrop.com - they connect people who need it with people who need to get rid of it (arborists)

• Empty plant containers - you can drop them off at Weston Nurseries; there is a sign and a pile of pots next to the garden center where you can add yours  (on the east end of the parking lot by the little shed).
  You can help us reduce the amount of plastic in landfills by bringing your used pots to the Garden Center. Some pots will be re-used at Weston Nurseries; other pots will be picked up by E.L. Harvey, who will pick up the pots and use them as Plastic for Recycling and process them into new nursery pots. If you are interested in contributing your old or used pots, please remove soil, sand, mulch and rocks and rinse off the pots before bringing them to the garden center and placing them in the designated bins.

• Especially with this kind of item, buy only what you need, use up what you have, and recycle any leftovers

• DPW has a dropoff day each year, usually in July - look for the insert in the Hopkinton Independent or follow Ehop or a similar town group on social media for details

• If you can't wait for or be at the town's recycling day, you can use an NEDT for-fee MA drop-off facility in Sutton or Westfield, or schedule them to pick up the materials at your place

The Texas Hearing Institute will accept used hearing aids to use as teaching aids for demonstrations

Try donating or reselling locally first, but if you can't, return used bricks to the LEGO company

• Facebook groups:

  • Buy nothing Hopkinton 

  • Hopkinton online yard sale

  • MetroWest online yard sale

• Craigslist - Boston and Central MA

• In good condition - can be donated (for example to the Central Mass Housing Alliance Clearinghouse)

• Green Mattress in Milford has a drop-off option or you can schedule a pickup: they strive to recycle and reuse over 95% of the mattress components

• UTEC in Lowell, an organization helping youth with challenges, accepts mattresses and boxsprings: call to pay in advance

• Not suitable for reuse - can be taken by junk removal firms (usually for a fee) or dropped off - see Multiple Items, below, and see this list for additional options

• When you buy a new mattress, the retailer will often take your old one

• Our committee sponsors a recycling event every fall where you bring a carload and for a fee, it's dispersed responsibly by Green Team Junk Removal

• Local charitable organizations accept items for reuse and some offer pick up

  • Hopkinton Senior Center often accepts donations - household items, jewelry etc. Call 508-497-9730.

  • Project Just Because of Hopkinton welcomes food, gently used clothing, household items, and toys; they provide a furniture network to give/get items

  • Big Brother / Big Sister accepts clothing, toys, household items, instruments, and books - schedule a pickup for when they are in town

  • Fresh Start Furniture Bank in Hudson accepts kitchen items, linens, lamps, artwork, and furniture in clean and working condition

  • Habitat for Humanity Restore in Ashland accepts and sells building materials, exercise equipment, furniture, garden tools, and more, which you can drop off or have picked up from your place

  • Savers accepts and resells many types of items at their locations in Framingham, Marlborough and more

• Need someone to come to your place or do you have big items or multiple items? These are for fee services:

  • Green Team Junk Removal - the service that helps us with the annual recycling event, they ensure the vast majority of items are reused or recycled

  • Harvey - the town's trash and recycling service can pick up large items

  • Affordable Junk Removal - takes away your stuff, reselling and recycling what they can

  • Conigliaro in Framingham accepts mattresses, foam, tires, old sinks, and more

•  May be accepted by Storopack, 125 Flanders Road, Westborough, Phone - 800 827 7225 or email packaging.us@storopack.com

• Styrofoam may be accepted at Polyfoam in Northbridge - 2357 Providence Road, Door #7. Call first - (508) 234-6323

• Single use plastic bags and stretchy plastic (called film) can be dropped off at the Price Chopper bin (where the cans and bottles are), as well as at other  locations

• During the 2023/2024 school year, the High School Environmental Club collected film plastic at a drop-off bin in the lobbies of Town Hall, Marty's, and the High School - see details here. We're hoping they or another group will resume this effort.

• HHS Girl Scout Troop 65294 repurposes sneakers via GotSneakers.com. Take your used sneakers to bins at Jump Start Physical Therapy (Natick), PR Running (Westboro), and Resilience Fitness (Hopkinton)

• Donate if still wearable (see Multiple items)

• Recycle as a textile if no longer wearable

• Ski swap held annually in Westborough where you can sell or buy used equipment

• Ask any local amatuer sports team if they can use what you have

• Drop off bins around Hopkinton accept textiles including these bins, and many more

  • Middle School bins near the water towers - proceeds going to the PTO

  • St. Paul's on Wood St

• Used clothes and shoes can be returned to participating retailers like H&M, Zappos, Patagonia, and more

• Helpsy will collect textiles from your home - schedule a pickup once you have 3 bags worth

• For pillows, the down can be composted, then the case is recycled as a textile.  For foam, the whole pillow should be recycled as a textile.

The Central Mass mosquito control project will pick up tires because they collect water and serve as breeding habitats. See this page for details. It includes a link to a form to request curbside pickup. For residents only - up to 8 tires a year, not businesses.

Recycle at Staples for no cost

• New Day Syria accepts many items, including games and stuffed animals at drop off locations including one in Shrewsbury

Do not put shredded paper into your recycling bin - it will clog up the machinery. Options:

1. If just one part of a page is sensitive, tear it off and compost it or burn it or shred just that.

2. Use a home shredder.

3. Burn paper in your woodstove or fireplace or firepit but be sure not to burn anything with plastic (sometimes part of the envelope or an insert in a mailing or a cover).

4. Use Staples or other fee-based shredders.

5. Sometimes, a bank or other company or event will include shredding. For example, Middlesex Savings Bank offered free shredding in Westborough one day in the summer of 2023. Follow our events page or social media postings to find out where and when. Let us know if you know of any.

• Hopkinton Lions Club holds a community yard sale every May - contact them to sell your items or attend to buy items

• Other non-profit organizations in town regularly hold rummage sales at their facilities including St. John's on Church St, Historical Society and more - look for lawn signs, notices in the local papers, and social media postings

• Check out the Hopkinton Public Library where you can borrow not only physical and online books and AV recordings but all kinds of things - try something before you buy it, or borrow it if you only need it occasionally

• Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

• Find a place to donate nearly anything at Beyond the Bin Recycling Directory

Rather than discard things that are no longer in the condition you need, try repairing them

• iFixit provides guides to help you do repairs on items from phones to appliances to cars

• Repair cafes fix items while you wait and help teach you how to do it - look for upcoming dates on the Events page 

• Search online for local repair establishments like tailors and vacuum cleaner shops