Berkeley Recycling Center

So smooth. had a bunch of extra cardboard left over after the holidays. brought it here, threw in the bin and done. painless.

They take sealed lead batteries, unlike the local ewaste recycling places. Yay! I had a few from a UPS (surge protector with battery backup) that after many years needed to be replaced. The battery recycling is to the right, when driving in.

Dumb operation. Website says they take cardboard, paper and electronics!
We pack the truck after a painful move and go there and some dumb chain smoker guy says we don’t take cardboard, I asked how bout paper, he said no, I said how about a TV he said no. I said but your website says you take all this stuff — he says I know but we are only taking bottles and cans!

We filled 11 of their huge garbage can size plastic tubs with glass, plastic and aluminum cans. You have to get your own pull cart, plastic trash tubs, and separate everything yourself — and all of the glass has to be separated by color. We wheeled both pull carts over to the recycling area where the rude worker dumped everything in a machine and gave us a ticket. We then had to go stand in line for the cashier, who handed us a $ 21 check. Seriously? I thought you at least got a nickel per item. Anyways, totally not worth the effort. On the plus side we got an awesome arm workout! Ill continue to donate my recyclables to the lady with the shopping cart that digs thru our trash. Added one star for being a place where folks can recycle their stuff instead of dumping it in landfills.

I had quite a bunch of cardboard to drop off after moving. I had been dreading it because so often recycling centers are confusing and unfriendly with long lines. My experience here, though, was very good. The center was easy to find as was the place to drop off anything they accept. I had a lot of cardboard — a lot! I filled the dumpster, which was only had a bit when I arrived. As it was getting full, someone was promptly there to replace it with a new dumpster, but quite courteous in waiting until my load was done. I don’t expect much in recycling centers; I’m just glad they are there serving a good cause. This was as good of an experience as I have had at a recycling center.

More than once I’ve had to hound the scale attendant to give ticket because someone behind me was hastily dumping their plastics while I was dumping my glass. This results in people leaving angry & shortchanged while the staff could not care less. It’s sad that people work hard collecting (as a living) just to have their time & effort wasted by an attendant who doesn’t care. And there’s no way to correct the compensation after two ppl have dumped; so if you recycle a lot, take your business elsewhere.

Not impressed. The workers were acting like they were doing me a favor by answering questions. Having never been there before, I didn’t realize that I had to sort the green, brown and clear glass from each other and put in separate bins. You also have to sort different clear from non-​clear plastics. Make sure that you bring gloves. The plastic cans that you use to sort and carry the recycled materials are lined with scum and the scent of alcohol. They really need to power hose the place down weekly. Just because it’s a recycling facility, does it have to look and feel like a dump. Oh, forget about getting 5 cents for each container under 24 oz. and 10 cents for each container over 24 oz. By paying by weight, the center can use a rate per pound formula that probably gives a ¹⁄₃ to ½ of that value. Oh, you get paid by check. Four, large plastic garbage bags of recycled materials = $ 6.02. From now on, I’ll put it in the waste management recycling pickup.

Spent two days trying to figure out where in the hell I could recycle household batteries and CFLs– since our local Ikea stopped taking them. Spent **considerably** less time actually driving here and dropping said items off. Woohoo! Did I mention it was easy and FREE?

Came here to drop off some scrap metal (parts from my car). Drove in, stopped by the dumpsters, and transferred the metal from the car to the dumpster. Fast and easy!
(There’s a separate area for buyback redemption).

Went early in the morning so there was no line. The people there were helpful and very friendly. They take cans bottles and plastic for buyback and in the corner there is battery recycling.

We brought what should’ve been about $ 30 worth of recycling and got only a check for $ 20 and some cents. Filfthy, long lines and the workers are sooooooo rude!
Plus getting a check sucks ;(

Some of the most patient folks on earth work here, especially John.
Donations are quick and easy — they even took a stove in the metal scrap bin.
However, for redemption, so many more people are recycling for funds – it can get crazy! So not a great place if you are in a rush, but if you presort (#1, #2, cans, and bottles by colors) and remember you are making some money and helping the earth you will do okay.
They do take batteries and spent fluorescents. At the southwest end of the lot, past where you get your check if you turn in for money.
Oil can sometimes go to oil changing places and other household hazards can go out to the Alameda County Hazardous Waste Facility at 2100 East 7^th Street in Oakland. CoCo county also has a similar facility at 101 Pittsburg Avenue in Richmond.

The Berkeley Recycling center (off of Gilman, by the freeway) is a decent recycling center with cardboard, paper, cans, bottles, scrap metal, and book drop-​offs. They even have a buy back area for aluminum cans and wine bottles and really friendly staff directing the facility. They are also conveniently next to the Berkeley transfer station, which takes green waste and other debris.
My only complaint is the drop-​off area is really small and dirty and they don’t take hazardous waste (i.e. batteries and oil) or old appliances or have a Good Will trailer like the El Cerrito recycling center, whose large facility in the old quarry spoils me. For some reason, I expect more from Berkeley.
But I can’t complain since they were open on New Year’s Eve afternoon, when with a completely packed station wagon, I discovered that the the El Cerrito recycling center had closed at noon. They saved me from unloading and reloading the remaining recyclables from my newly cleaned garage so I could party for New Year’s.

Convenient and Comprehensive Recycling Services
It’s always busy here and not just in my vehicle-​based drop-​off line where we’re recycling our cardboard and other stuff (including scrap metal) that might overwhelm our home-​based service. There’s also a long line of street folks cashing in their recyclables for cash and «mountains» of packaged cardboard and other processing in the back. All of this is being directed by a few efficient and no-​nonsense type operating out of the trailer.
And if you have green waste, construction material and other stuff, the Berkeley Transfer Station is right next door.

I do my share in being environmentally friendly by practicing the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. In my book, there’s a fourth. R-​E-​F-​U-​N-​D baby! Here at the Berkeley Recycling Center, their friendly and helpful staff make the process effortless. You can jam in and out of there in less than five minutes with some $cha-​ching$ back in your own pocket. Enter the parking lot, zoom past the shopping cart drivers, pull up to the buy-​back area and dump your empty aluminum cans, wine bottles, beer bottles, plastic water bottles and containers in their color designated bins. In exchange they hand you an invoice which you redeem at the cashier window. You exit smiling, holding a check in hand worth almost… a WHOLE gallon of unleaded gas!
Other recyclables are welcomed (check website) and you’d never think that the last two weeks of the Chronicle were worth that much. For the sake of efficiency, make sure you pre-​sort and caps off!