Solid Waste & Recycling

What To Do List

This alphabetical list helps you determine the best way to dispose of everyday things. Click an item for instructions on how to dispose, recycle, or drop off your items. Click on the icon for more information.

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M	Metal Shelves
Mace or Pepper Spray	Microwave
Magazines or catalogs	Microwave Boxes, Trays
Mail	Milk Cartons
Mattress	Mineral Spirits
Medical Waste	Mirrors
Medication Bottles	Molds: Plastic
Medicine	Monitor: Computer
Mercury	Moth Balls
Mercury Switches	Motor Oil and Oil Filters
Metal Drums	Motors
Metal Items	Motorcycles

Item	What to do	Handle As	Donate
Mace or Pepper Spray	Do NOT place in the garbage cart. This item NOT collected by Solid Waste & Recycling or accepted at the South Transfer Station. Disposal with garbage is prohibited. Call the local police precinct for proper disposal. Items marked Caution, Caustic, Corrosive, Danger, Flammable, Poison, Volatile, or Warning should be considered a hazardous waste product and proper disposal is required. Do NOT place in garbage. Go to Hennepin County A-Z Guide for additional information.
Magazines and catalogs	Magazines and/or catalogs. Any thickness. Place in paper bags and/or bundle with string or twine. Each bag or bundle must weigh less than twenty (20) lbs. Newsprint type pages are not accepted.
Mail	Office paper, envelops, manila folders, notebook paper, Post-It Notes®. Place in paper bags. Include with boxboard.
Mattress	Place next to the garbage cart on garbage day. Please post a sign or write on the item "For Solid Waste". Limit of 2 large items per garbage day. Mattress recycling available at Hennepin County drop-off facility for a fee. Go to Hennepin County A-Z Guide for additional information.	Large Item
Medical Waste or Medicine	Do NOT place in the garbage cart. This item NOT collected by Solid Waste & Recycling or accepted at the South Transfer Station. Disposal with garbage is prohibited. Home care medical wastes such as bandaging, tubing or latex gloves that are contaminated cannot be disposed of in the garbage cart. Check with a home health care provider, or contact a health care provider or pharmacy about disposal options. Items marked Caution, Caustic, Corrosive, Danger, Flammable, Poison, Volatile, or Warning should be considered a hazardous waste product and proper disposal is required. Do NOT place in garbage. Go to Hennepin County A-Z Guide for additional information.
Medication Bottles	If empty, bag and place inside the garbage. If you still have prescription medication left, contact a health care provider or pharmacy. Over the counter medications may be bagged and placed inside the garbage cart. We do not accept medication bottles in the recycling program.
Mercury and Mercury Switches	Do NOT place in the garbage cart. This item NOT collected by Solid Waste & Recycling or accepted at the South Transfer Station. Disposal with garbage is prohibited. Items such as: barometers, button batteries, fluorescent lamps, temperature thermometers, thermostats and switches in various appliances. Mercury is a nerve toxin that is especially dangerous when inhaled, and particularly toxic to the developing nervous system of a fetus or young child, as well as dangerous to the environment. Go to Hennepin County A-Z Guide for additional information and web resources. Items marked Caution, Caustic, Corrosive, Danger, Flammable, Poison, Volatile, or Warning should be considered a hazardous waste product and proper disposal is required. Do NOT place in garbage.
Metal Box/Bed Springs, Cloth Box/Bed Springs.	Metal box/bed Springs are collected This item collected on recycling week only. Limit of 2 large items per recycling week. Place next to the garbage cart on the recycling day. Please post a sign or write on the item "For Solid Waste". Item will be picked up on next business day after recycling day. Cloth covered box/bed springs are collected on any garbage day. Place next to the garbage cart. Please post a sign or write on the item “For Solid Waste”. Limit of 2 large items per garbage day.	Large Item	Donate
Metal Drums	This item collected on recycling week only. Drum must be open and completely empty. Place next to the garbage cart on the recycling day. Please post a sign or write on the item "For Solid Waste". Item will be picked up on next business day after recycling day. Limit of 2 large items per recycling week.	Large Item	Donate
Metal Items	Metal items are collected on recycling week only. Limit of 2 large items per recycling week. Place next to the garbage cart on the recycling day. Please post a sign or write on the item "For Solid Waste". Will be picked up the next business day ONLY on the recycling week.	Large Item
Metal Shelves	This item collected on recycling week only. Shelving must be less than six (6) feet in length and bundled. Bundles not to exceed 40 lbs. Limit of 2 large items per recycling week. Place next to the garbage cart on the recycling day. Please post a sign or write on the item "For Solid Waste". Item will be picked up on next business day after recycling day.	Large Item	Donate
Microwave	This item collected on recycling week only. Limit of 2 large items per recycling week. Place next to the garbage cart on the recycling day. Please post a sign or write on the item "For Solid Waste". Item will be picked up on next business day after recycling day.	Large Item	Donate
Microwave Dinner Boxes, Containers, Trays	Bag and place inside the garbage cart. We do not accept microwave dinner or any frozen food boxes/trays in the recycling program. They have a plastic coating that cannot be recycled.
Milk Cartons	Bag and place inside the garbage cart. We do not accept milk cartons in the recycling program. Market prices have dropped and the small volume of milk cartons and drink boxes does not justify a whole bin on the recycling trucks. When Minneapolis collected milk cartons and drink boxes, they were less than 1/2 of one percent of the recyclables we collected. In 1996, Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling collected over 21,000 tons of recyclables, but only 91 tons of milk cartons and drink boxes.
Mineral Spirits	Do NOT place in the garbage cart. This item NOT collected by Solid Waste & Recycling or accepted at the South Transfer Station. Disposal with garbage is prohibited. Items marked Caution, Caustic, Corrosive, Danger, Flammable, Poison, Volatile, or Warning should be considered a hazardous waste product and proper disposal is required. Do NOT place in garbage. Go to Hennepin County A-Z Guide for additional information.
Mirrors	Small pieces can be double bagged and placed inside the cart. Place larger pieces next to the garbage cart. Please post a sign or write on the item “For Solid Waste”. Limit of 2 large items per garbage day. Broken mirrors can be trimmed to make smaller mirrors, contact a glass dealer for additional information.	Large Item	Donate
Molds: Plastic	Item accepted at South Transfer Station with a voucher. Vouchers are available to customers of Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling, see Voucher Program for details.	Voucher
Monitor: Computer	This item collected on recycling week only. Limit of 2 large items per recycling week. Place next to the garbage cart on the recycling day. Please post a sign or write on the item "For Solid Waste". Item will be picked up on next business day after recycling day.	Large Item	Donate
Moth Balls	Do NOT place in the garbage cart. This item NOT collected by Solid Waste & Recycling or accepted at the South Transfer Station. Disposal with garbage is prohibited. Items marked Caution, Caustic, Corrosive, Danger, Flammable, Poison, Volatile, or Warning should be considered a hazardous waste product and proper disposal is required. Do NOT place in garbage. Go to Hennepin County A-Z Guide for additional information.
Motor Oil and Oil Filters	Do NOT place in the garbage cart. This item NOT collected by Solid Waste & Recycling or accepted at the South Transfer Station. Disposal with garbage is prohibited. By State law, a person cannot place brake fluid, motor oil, oil filters, power steering fluid, or transmission fluid in the garbage, on the land, in water, down a sewer, or in the storm drain. Some automotive service stations accept automotive fluids and oil filters, usually for a fee. Items marked Caution, Caustic, Corrosive, Danger, Flammable, Poison, Volatile, or Warning should be considered a hazardous waste product and proper disposal is required. Do NOT place in garbage. Go to Hennepin County A-Z Guide for additional information.
Motors: Household Appliances	ONLY household type motors such as a dryer, lawn mower, snow blower, washing machine or weed trimmer motors. This item collected on recycling week only. Limit of 2 large items per recycling week. Place next to the garbage cart on the recycling day. Please post a sign or write on the item "For Solid Waste". Item will be picked up on next business day after recycling day. All other motors, check the Yellow Page under “scrap metals”. Can be brought to a scrap metal dealer for recycling.	Large Item
Motorcycles	This item NOT collected by Solid Waste & Recycling or accepted at the South Transfer Station. Check the Yellow Page under “Scrap Metals” or “Junk Yards”, for disposal options.		Donate