Monrovia Recycling Center

Not many places to bring recyclables in the area. Best rates — along with the facility on Arrow Hwy in Irwindale (which smells foul) — get you maybe 30% more cash than the Ralph’s in Arcadia. The bees and yellow jackets often come out to annoy, but they never seem interested in stinging people. Go early in the day (during cool weather) when MRC opens to minimize any flying critters. People always friendly here and they do their best to get you out quickly. I give a few bucks tip to the person at the scales, which they greatly appreciate. They work a fairly repulsive job and it keeps their spirits up.

This was my first time here at MRC after they closed the recycling center near Ralphs in Duarte (#RIPRalphsDuarte). I thought the Ralphs recycling center was bad, well this place made the Ralphs recycling center look like the Four Seasons! First off, there are BEES EVERYWHERE! If you’re allergic to bee stings, DO NOT COME HERE. It gets even worse as you approach the scale, it feels like you’re in a giant beehive. Some people didn’t mind the bees, while I was swatting them away and trying to stay away from them to the best of my ability. There is limited parking so try going early or late in the afternoon to avoid the rush. Also, if you have sensitive ears, bring earplugs since there is a lot of rumbling and smashing of glass. I had ringing in my ears hours after dropping off my cans. There are a bunch of wire bins that you can grab and take to your car to collect your cans and bring them to the weightmaster. Pretty simple. Dump all the sugary excess liquid like soda and beer in the designated bins to avoid an even worse bee infestation.
Surprisingly, the service was actually good. The weightmaster was friendly and showed us the ropes since we were new to recycling here. We even were able to get $ 50 for our old brass bearings! At the MRC, they give you a receipt with the amount you got for your cans and you bring the receipt to a cashier. The cashier, Debbie, was really nice and also gave us a breakdown of the payment process. We were able to get our money in cash right away but for our brass we have to wait 3 days for our money and we had to show ID and get our thumbprints taken. A lot more security measures here than at any old recycling center.
I like the service here, but the horrible bee infestation and limited parking and noisiness make this place a drag. If I can’t find another suitable recycling center within a 5 mile radius, then I guess I can suck it up and bring my cans here in a bee suit (lol).

Much easier than going to our local recycling center at Ralph’s. pays better too

Been here a few times and never liked it. Long lines and trashy people. I wont be back

This place is so frustrating i want to kick myself in the balls. I have been here 5 times to recycle brass and copper. Every time I have to argue and fight in order to persuade them to take my recyclables. It is always the same damn guy too. I remind him that I have been there before and they have my license and business information in the computer. Doesn’t matter. He plays like he cant take my stuff, I assure him it is legit scrap, and finally he concedes.
It is the same soap opera every time. Also, you can call them out at the scale and they will give you a better price. What! I thought the prices were set? Apparently not, I saw this done and now have made it part of my act. You can negotiate with the dude at the scale. I return here for my dose of frustration because it is so close to work and I feel strongly about using local business. The lines are long and slow. If you need to drive on the scale you are so screwed. Park it and hope to find help.

Ewwwwww Bees! I know I shouldn’t complain it’s a recycling center & the place is a mess, but it could be a little cleaner. I recommend you wear closed toe shoes. It does the job and it’s close.

Came by here last week with my husband to recycle some bottles & cans. We usually go to Father Earth down the street but decided to try this place because my brother had mentioned to me that this place pays a little higher than them. I have to agree after coming here.
Anyways, this was our first time here and when we entered the driveway (located across from Jack in the Box and near a Taco place and a car wash place), we drove towards the back and parked. Then grabbed some of the mesh bins (that look like trash cans) and divided up our plastics and aluminum. For the glass bottles, we placed them in the plastic garbage bins (we were told by a frequent patron that they want you to place them in there in case they shatter, it won’t be all over the floor).
After dividing up our haul, we dragged all of our bins over to the scale area and waited in line til it was our turn. After getting our items weighed, we received a printed receipt and headed over to the trailer behind us to pick up our cash. Overall, a pretty easy task.
Just wanted to mention a few things, I would highly suggest that you wear closed toed shoes as there is shattered glass around the floor and you would not want to get hurt. Also I would suggest that you bring disposable gloves because this is definitely rather a dirty job (might as well bring hand sanitizer as well so you can use it afterwards as well) and you do not want to bring that back to your car.
Lastly, this place also will give you money for scrap metal but you have to provide a valid driver’s license (we saw a guy getting his scrap metal weighed while we were in line) and they also will give you money for paper and cardboard. Also if you are not sure if a bottle is recyclable, you should just bring it here anyway and see because we found out they do recycle some plastic bottles that Father Earth does not (yay, more bang for your buck).

Horrible service, called ahead of time to let them know I was bringing in a steel safe to recycle, and was told that that was fine. I work for a Lock & Safe Company, and was wearing my uniform. They decided to not let me recycle the safe, and inferred that it might be stolen, even though I had the combination for the safe lock. Definitely do not recommend this place, horrible service horrible attitude, even called ahead of time and still was lied to.

Great Service

Pay-​outs can be inconsistent, but by far and away the best place to go locally, and recycle a lot of stuff in a little time.

Came here on a Saturday to recycle a LOT of cardboard boxes that we had stored from work.
When we arrived, we were super super lost. Rolled down our window to ask a worker what to do, and he just told us to «hold on» and continued doing his thing. Okay…
So apparently you:
1) Drive over the scale
2) Wait for the OK to drive off the scale
3) Wait for someone to tell you where to go to unload what you have to recycle
4) Drive back on the scale without your recyclables
5) Find very scarce parking so that you can get down and go to the register and get paid
130 pounds worth of cardboard (that is a heck of a lot!) got us $ 10 ._​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​.
I don’t know. Maybe i’ll come try again with cans and bottles or whatnot. We’ll see.
For their lack of instructions and low, low rates… two stars!

This place recycles a lot of things. Get PAID to recycle your paper, old booklets, paper bags, newspaper, letters, junk mail, cardboard boxes, glass, PETE bottles, steel, copper, brass, aluminum. Need to show ID and license plate number to get money for metals.
One advice, separate your white paper from colored paper/​cardboard. They are different rates. White paper sells for higher rate.

As part of my New Year’s resolution I choose to become ever more thrifty, not to mention environmentally conscious. Thus I am writing about Monrovia Recycling Center. I took my first load of bottles and cans there this past week. It is convenient for me as I live in Monrovia. The staff and fellow recyclers were helpful filling me in on the routine. Monrovia Recycling is equipped to handle a variety of recyclable items including cans, bottles, cardboard, newspapers, steel, copper, brass, stainless steel etc. I noticed they had a dumpster full of old TVs. I came away with $ 11.45 to add to the family pot.