Recycle Right Sign Suite

The Recycle Right Sign Suite was designed to provide standardized, visually based education near recycling and disposal receptacles across Monroe County.   

These resources have been made available via free download to assist Monroe County residents, businesses, and institutions in promoting consistent recycling and maintaining a continuous stream of high- quality recyclables. Spanish and English versions of each sign are available.

Mixed Recycling sign depicting acceptable paper, plastic, metal and glass items Trash sign depicting pouches and wrappers, disposable food items, single-use plastics, foam, plastic bags, food and liquids that should be disposed in garbage Plastic Bag and Film sign showing types of materials accepted at retailers for recycling Returnables sign showing acceptable cans, plastic bottles, and glass bottles accepted for deposit Cardboard sign depicting empty, flattened cardboard boxes

Download Sign PDFs

Best Management Practices

Choosing the right signs for your facility

The signs were developed to address commonly generated items in four locations:

  1. Grade schools (cafeterias, classrooms, etc.)
  2. Public spaces/Events with food concessions or food service (higher education, arenas, stadiums, parks, airports, public events and festivals, etc.)
  3. Residential multi-units with central collection (apartments, dorms, senior living, etc.) or single residences
  4. Offices (individual offices, cubicles, conference rooms, copy areas, break and lunch rooms, etc.)

A customized Mixed Recycling and Trash sign has been created for each location.

There are also signs for source separated or specialty recycling streams, including:

  • Plastic bag and film recycling (flexible plastic that can be returned to retailers for recycling, but is not accepted in Mixed Recycling)
  • Returnables (deposit cans and bottles)
  • Cardboard

Office wall with Mixed Recycling sign over blue recycling bin and Trash sign over gray trash binReceptacles: twin the bin

Ideally, recycling receptacles should be paired with trash receptacles in all locations. 

In other words, “twin the bin” so that recycling is as easy and convenient as throwing items in the garbage.  As you evaluate your current container system, you may find that there are more trash receptacles than recycle bins throughout your facility.  

To ensure that each waste station consists of a recycling bin and a trash bin, consider:

  • Adding a recycling bin next to each trash receptacle
  • Reducing overall trash receptacles 

Placing Signs and Labels

Color coordination of receptacles helps to identify the appropriate place for waste materials.  

The standard color for recycling is blue and trash is black. Ideally, recycling receptacles would be blue and trash receptacles would be black.

If it is not in your budget or you do not want to replace receptacles, adding color-coded labels to your existing receptacles will help students, customers, and employees to recycle properly.

Additional Considerations

  • Clearly mark each bin by placing labels on receptacles
  • Place signs on wall at eye level over each container

Download Sign PDFs

Fill out the form below to download the sign PDFs. After submitting your contact information, you will receive an email with a permanent link to download the PDFs at any time. There is no need to resubmit your information. 

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