Join us at the Winneshiek County Earth Day Festival taking place at the fairgrounds on Saturday, April 25th! We will be there from 9 am to noon! Our Recycling Educator, Evan Neubauer, will be presenting “Waste Less, Recycle Right” in the Danan Lansing Building from 9:30 to 10:00. Make sure you grab some snacks and coffee in the Community Building before heading over to the presentation! Evan will be providing updates on recycling rules in our area. Come with questions! Click the link below for more information:
In addition to this event, we will also be hosting an electronic/scrap metal recycling collection event at our facility on Saturday, May 16th from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM. We will be accepting electronics, appliances, and scrap metal. Charges still apply for some items, but this is your chance to recycle these materials over the weekend! Below is a list of items that we charge for at our facility. We are hoping to see you at both events!
DO NOT PUT RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES IN YOUR GARBAGE! BRING THEM TO THE RECYCLING CENTER DURING BUSINESS HOURS AND GIVE THEM TO ONE OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS. There is no charge for this service. These batteries are very dangerous and cause fires easily. Please help us get them recycled safely.
Rechargeable batteries that have been punctured and started on fire.
Please keep sharps out of your trash and ensure they get handled properly! These are very dangerous!
Winneshiek County Public Health has a red sharps disposal container located at 305 Montgomery St in Decorah. Needles can be placed in this container, but they MUST be in puncture proof containers! No boxes, plastic bags or pop bottles.
Thank you for disposing of these items properly!
Red sharps container at 305 Montgomery St in Decorah.Red sharps container at 305 Montgomery St in Decorah.Sharps found in Winneshiek County Sanitary Landfill.
Cardboard makes up the largest share of material processed at our recycling center. It adds up to more than half of everything we collect and ship to recycling mills. Because of this, keeping our cardboard baler running efficiently is essential to maintaining a smooth and effective recycling operation.
Recently, we completed several important upgrades to our baler that will improve both efficiency and reliability.
One of the biggest improvements was the installation of an ejector base pedal. This upgrade allows staff to more easily and safely eject finished cardboard bales from the machine, speeding up the process and reducing the physical effort required to move each bale.
We also completed mechanical improvements to the baler itself. The hydraulic cylinder was repaired, and the hydraulic oil was replaced, helping ensure the machine continues to operate smoothly and consistently. These updates will help extend the life of the equipment while minimizing downtime.
None of these improvements would have been possible without support from the Winneshiek County Area Solid Waste Agency. The Agency awarded a $5,002.78 grant, which funded a significant portion of the project costs.
We are extremely grateful for their continued support of recycling infrastructure in our community. Investments like this help ensure we can continue processing large volumes of cardboard efficiently and keep valuable materials out of the landfill.
Conveyer belt and cardboard baler at Winneshiek County Recycling.
1. Please rinse your containers before placing them in recycling containers. They don’t need to be spotless, just empty and mostly clean!
2. Please flatten cardboard before placing pieces in the bins. Either do this at home before transporting the boxes or step on them at the collection site. If I forget to break one down, I use my key to cut the tape on the box and fold it 🙂 This makes room for more recyclables and helps trucks operate more efficiently.
3. Please DO NOT put plastic bags in our recycling bins. They get tangled in sorting equipment and contaminate our other materials. If there are store drop-off options, take them there instead.
Feel free to reach out with questions! Here is a link to our “Accepted/Unaccepted Materials” page. If you visit this page, you can also find a link to an updated printable recycling guide.
Did you know that we accept a wide variety of electronics and appliances at Winneshiek County Recycling?
Old microwaves, toasters, laptops, printers, washing machines, dryers, bicycles, lawn mowers, and more all contain valuable metals that can be recovered and recycled instead of buried in the landfill.
Why does it matter?
Metal is one of the most recyclable materials we have, and it can be recycled over and over again without losing quality. Keeping it out of the landfill conserves resources, reduces mining, and protects our environment.
Some items require a small fee to cover proper handling and recycling costs. If you’re unsure about an item or the fee, give us a call. We’re happy to help. Before you toss it, check with us first!
We’re incredibly grateful to Winneshiek Energy District for organizing the ribbon cutting for our solar project and for the great article highlighting the work!
A big thank you as well to Decorah Electric for their excellent work installing the system. We’re proud to be part of the momentum around renewable energy in Winneshiek County!
Please note that the Decorah recycling bins currently located in the lot near Decorah City Hall will be moved on Friday, January 30th.
New Location:
Goose Island Dr – behind the Army Reserve and across the street from the Decorah softball field. You will need to enter the site from the north side off of Goose Island Dr.
To help with the transition, here is a map displaying the old location and new location.
New location and old location of Decorah recycling collection site.
The bins are being moved to allow room for the construction of the new elementary school.
Thank you for your patience and for continuing to recycle responsibly!
In addition to this news, we would also like to remind folks of the following rules when using the Winneshiek County Recycling collection sites.
Please review the details below in regards to using the roll off bins:
CARDBOARD BINS
• Cardboard that tears brown
• Brown paper goes in these bins
• Flatten all cardboard (Prevents hauling air and keeps bins from filling too fast)
COMBO BIN
PLASTIC & METAL SECTION
• HARD plastics only stamped #1 or #2
• Tin cans
• Aluminum cans
• Items must be empty & dry
• NO food remnants
PAPER SECTION
• Paper that tears white
• Clean, dry paper only
• Avoid paper covered in wax (No paper cups or plates. They contain a wax coating.)
NO – DO NOT PLACE THESE ITEMS IN BINS AT THE COLLECTION SITES (Some are accepted ONLY at the recycling center)
• Non-recyclable materials
• Soft plastics (bags, wrap, film)
• Food or food-soiled items
• Scrap metal (Accepted ONLY at the Recycling Center)
• Glass (Accepted ONLY at the Recycling Center)
NO ITEMS ON THE GROUND
Placing items next to the bins is littering and against the law.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The recycling site is a service provided by Winneshiek County Recycling. If the site is abused, it may be locked and drop-off limited to specific hours.
CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE RECYCLING GUIDES AND ADDITIONAL RECYCLING INFORMATION:
PLEASE REACH OUT TO US IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS:
Email: recycling@co.winneshiek.ia.us
Phone: 563-382-6514
Message us on Facebook.
THANK YOU FOR DOING YOUR PART AND KEEPING VALUABLE MATERIALS OUT OF OUR LANDFILL!
Please note: we cannot accept wrapping paper for recycling, even if it is labeled “recyclable”.
Why?
Most wrapping paper contains coatings, dyes, glitter, foil, tape, or plastic fibers. These materials are not recyclable and are extremely difficult to separate from truly recyclable paper. Because of this, all wrapping paper ends up being thrown in the garbage when it reaches the sorting process.
Better (and greener) alternatives:
Reusable gift bags
Newspaper or comic pages
Brown kraft paper (decorate it with drawings or stamps!)
Reusable fabric wrap or scarves
These options help reduce waste and keep more material out of the landfill.
ANOTHER SORTING REMINDER: BROWN PAPER GOES IN THE CARDBOARD BINS:
This includes brown grocery bags and brown packaging paper
If you are not certain whether something is cardboard or paper, use the tear test! If you tear a box and it is white, consider it paper. If the tear is brown, place the item in cardboard. Please ensure there are no food remnants on these items!
Thanks for helping us at the recycling center 🙂
Also, we are closed on the following dates for the holidays:
Wednesday, December 24th
Thursday, December 25th
Thursday, January 1st
Brown bags in the paper bin. These need to be placed in the cardboard bins instead.This wrapping paper was found in the paper bin. Please don’t put wrapping paper in our recycling bins. Place this in your garbage.This wrapping paper was found in the paper bin. Please don’t put wrapping paper in our recycling bins. Place this in your garbage.
