Curbside Recycling Program
The City of Golden Valley has provided a curbside recycling service since 1987. It is funded through a grant from Hennepin County and user fees on utility bills.
Changes to the program in January 2012 included a new hauler (Allied Waste), every-other Friday pick-up, a larger cart with wheels and a lid, more recyclables (plastics #1-7 and plastic bags), and no more sorting (throw all recyclables in the cart).
Pick-Up Schedule
Pick-up is every other Friday for curbside customers. You are in either the blue service week or the gray service week (see map).
On collection day, have your recycling cart at the curb by 6:30 am (late set-outs do not qualify as missed pick-ups). Make sure cart handles and wheels face away from the street and that carts are placed 3–5 feet away from other objects (trash containers, mail boxes, cars, trees, bushes, etc).
2013 Blue/Gray Service Week Calendars
Missed Pick-Ups
If your recycling is at your curb by 6:30 am on collection day and it still doesn't get picked up, call Allied Waste at 952-941-5174 before noon the following Monday. Tell the customer service representative you are calling to report a missed pick-up and leave your address.
Holiday Schedule
If your pick-up week falls during one of the following holiday weeks (unless holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday), pick-up will be one day later than normal:
- New Years Day
- Memorial Day
- Fourth of July
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
If your pick-up week does not fall during one of these holiday weeks, pick-up will be Friday as usual.
- What can I recycle?
- What can't I recycle?
Newspaper & newspaper inserts
Magazines & catalogs
All junk mail, envelopes, office & school papers (all colors)
Cardboard (break down boxes)
Phone books
Cereal & cracker-type boxes
Brown paper sacks/bags
Aluminum, steel, & tin cans
Glass bottles & jars
NEW! Plastics: #1 thru #7—bottles, cups, food containers, tubs, bowls, yogurt cups & butter/whip cream tubs-
NEW! On-the-go food packaging (Plastics #1 thru #7) 
NEW! Plastic bags (from retailers)
Juice boxes & other paper cartons
- No garbage
- No food waste
- No food tainted items (used paper plates, paper towels, or paper napkins)
- No pizza boxes
- No egg cartons
- No wax-coated cartons
- No ice-cream cartons
- No aluminum foil
- No styrofoam (like cups/plates & packaging)
- No aerosol cans, propane tanks or helium tanks
- No batteries
Storing Your New Cart
If you choose to store your recycling cart outside, follow the City ordinance (10.40, Subdivision 5) and make sure it is always located behind the front of the primary structure (house) and is no more than 3 feet away from the house or accessory structure (garage).
Carts may be placed at the curb from 5 pm the day before collection to 9 pm the day of collection.
What Can I Do With My Old Bin?
In the true spirit of recycling, if you want to keep your old recycling bins, they’re yours. Use them for storing or hauling, or give them to someone else who wants them.
If that doesn’t work for you, drop them off under the water tower next to Golden Valley City Hall. The City will reuse or recycle the old bins, so they’ll be discarded in an environmentally friendly manner.
