SMaRT Station

Easy in and out. We went after 4pm on a Sunday knowing we cut it close since they close at 5pm. They had cones in the street and no left turn at Carl. Had to do a u turn at Crossman. We got in at 4:20 and saw signs that they closed at 4:30. When we left at 4:49, the cones were gone, and I don’t think they were letting anyone else in. You have to have a tarp or other cover over your haul or they fine you $ 15. Makes no sense. They said it’s in case you’re hauling a couch and there’s a quarter in it that flies out. Okay but I just drove 5 miles at 35mph without a tarp, and I’m here now going 3mph for 200 yards.
Was surprised that everything we had got dumped together (mattress, box spring and a ton of broken down boxes). Had read it was $ 17 per piece for the bed but we didn’t get charged. Overall, easy experience if you can stand the smell!

If you can stand the smell, this place is convenient. Gives you the ability to pull your car right up and dispose your junk. Each bin is labeled so you know what to put and not put in there.
I imagine that going to a place like this would be intimidating for some… I urge you to check it out if you need to get rid of stuff. It’s easy!
They also have mulch that one can pick up. I have not done that yet…

I took advantage of the free dump last weekend and they will also have one this upcoming weekend. First 2 weekends on oct. I cleaned out a bunch of stuff over Labor Day, most I donated and other stuff was just garbage. I had 5 expired car seats that unfortunately can’t be recycled. It has to be destroyed. Most people don’t know this and try to sell it on craigslist, but yes, they expire after 5 – 6 yrs from date of manufacture. It’s definitely big and bulky.
I loaded those up and off to the dump we went. This place is huge!
It was a first time for me and the smell was quite an experience! I will say however, that it was very organized with all the workers helped coordinate drivers where to go. It would be chaos otherwise! You can’t imagine how much garbage there is. Whatever could be recycled was, in huge bins, so that was great.
But yes, I definitely agree. Garbage is serious business!

A little hard to navigate at first, but once I got in, it was smooth sailing from there. As said in many other reviews about the 50 or less rule, you should take that opportunity if you get it. Anyways the crew that helped me were not mean, and helpful, guiding me in and out. Good place to get rid of cans, making a little money, and also getting rid of light bulbs.

Awesome place. Absolutely loved it!
The first thing you notice when you get off in the recycling center is that there are a lot of truckers here, which add to the feel. The slight garbage stink in the air is not as bad as some reviewers claim and also add to the special experience you can only get in a dump or recycling center. The lady who counted my plastic bottles was nice and even gave me the choice of getting compensation by the count or the weight. She smiled. If she hadn’t, I would have given it only 3 stars.
After I got my receipt, I was told to drive over to the office. The parking lot next to the office was full, so –0.33. However, when I got in there, I was met with this 1970s groove of a building, the sort of Western bureaucracy feel I’ve been longing for for such a long time in the Bay Area. The lady who took care of my receipt was very efficient and smiled too, so thanks for that.
When I was leaving the place, I saw somebody dressed in something looking like a camouflage suit picking up trash. That made me associate to radioactivity, Fukushima and all that, which made me nervous, so –0.33. Please don’t do this in the future, or if you do, put up a sign that this is not dangerous.
This gives the place a total of 4.33, which rounds to 4. You’re strongly encouraged to use this place for its efficiency, nice people and attention to detail. They even have a compost! However, this is not the place for those who like the accidental snack since the smell of the dump would quickly be harmful to your appetite. In the end the choice is up to you, based on your specific needs and what you want from this fine establishment.

Please recycle your batteries, light bulbs and old electronic devices at the SMART station which is right by the bay lands. I took my old cell phone and batteries there and got paid for a few aluminum cans. Friendly staff and the facility was pretty clean!

Garbage is serious business.
I mean, it’s gotta go somewhere and you can’t really chuck all your crap into your backyard. Well, I guess there are some people who seem to!
But for the rest of us, places like the Sunnyvale Materials, Recovery and Transfer (SMaRT) Station help sort all that garbage so that not all of it ends up in a landfill. Because otherwise, the over-​trashed world of Wall-​E is going to become a reality a whole lot sooner.
Behind the scenes, people at the SMaRT Station are working hard daily to sort recyclable and compostable material out from the garbage produced by the cities of Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. And every day, 30 semi-​trucks’ worth of compacted garbage gets hauled down to the dump in South San Jose. That’s a lot of garbage!
The SMaRT Station also has a recycling center where residents can drop off hazardous materials like fluorescent bulbs, batteries, electronics, cooking oil, motor oil and antifreeze. Because that stuff should NOT be put in the regular trash (with the exception of small amounts of cooking oil). Please dispose of it properly!
There’s also a buy-​back center that will take your cans, plastic and glass and give you actual money for them! And all that organic material that gets pulled out of the garbage? That gets turned into compost, which is then provided on-​site for residents of Los Altos, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale to take for FREE. How cool is that?
Kudos to the SMaRT Station for dealing with all of our crap!

I’ve been going to the dump here since I’ve been a resident of Sunnyvale — over 8 years now.
While it’s good to have a dump that you have access to — since I’m a resident, I’m always disappointed with how much money I have to pay to dump a truckload of misc crap from my back yard (clippings, old wood, old stuff that good will can’t use).
Every time I check in, the guy comes out with his measuring stick. Please dude, its a full size truck — long bed pick up. They’ve been the same frigging size since the 50s but yet you measure every time. I think you do this so I won’t feel so bad when you hit me up with a 40+ buck dumping fee… I swear sometimes if I have 1 twig above the top of the bed I get charged and extra 10 bucks. Sunnyvale dump roulette. one time its OK, the other time its way to much $

Go recycle your stuff!
If you need some motivation to do so, well they will get you some cash. You can always be like me and recycle all your co-​workers’ cans and bottles for them (you know they’re too lazy to do so on their own) and maybe come ahead (not really).
If you want to maximize how much money you get, you can bring in 50 items or less and ask to be paid «by count,» i.e. full CRV. How much more is than than by weight? I don’t know, I majored in English. Eventually I decided it wasn’t worth my while to come by there so often, but your mileage may vary.
I will say that no one will go out of your way to explain this to you, but once you figure it out, they won’t argue with you either.
And actually… the best thing about this place is not having to go into a grocery store to get your cashback, as you had to do in SoCal. I don’t know if that’s common here, this is the only place I go to recycle and I’ll never need anywhere else!

I found this place on Internet. I had a few bags of plastic bottles to recycle. Finding the place was a day of adventure. It’s tucked away in its own little area but if you follow the signs you should be fine. Once you enter there are some tollbooths but you don’t need to pay. I think that’s where the garbage trucks check in. If you want to recycle keep on driving straight towards where all the stuff is and you do a U-​turn to get to the recycle station.
There’s a person in a booth waiting for you who will come out and weigh the stuff. They give you a receipt and then you go into the building where they pay you. The process is really simple. I’ll be coming back to recycle all my other stuff!

Fall 2011 Update
Cons: recycling plastic shopping bags is not allowed anymore
I’m a hypocrite and guilty of overly using plastic shopping bags. I have perfectly good re-​usable bags in the back seat of the car. I just can’t seem to remember to bring them in with me. I justified it by recycling my plastic bags at the Smart Station. No longer an option!
Now I have to jam them in the already packed Safeway recycle bins for bags. I figured Joe Blow at Safeway would toss them in the regular garbage when no one was looking. I was saving Planet Earth by driving over to the Smart Station with my bags.
Pros: I can still get Free Mulch/​Compost
«The good Earth – we could have saved it, but we were too damn cheap and lazy.» Kurt Vonnegut
.

What a dump!
Actually I find myself going out of my way to come here… free mulch and free compost! And a place to toss extra cardboard and redeem recyclables at a fair market rate.
If you go for the free mulch and compost (open to residents of Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Mountain View), bring suitable containers (I’ve witnessed others scraping it into plastic grocery bags w/​a makeshift cardboard «shovel» of all things). I bring empty 5 – 10 gallon paint cans and garbage cans (bring more than you think you’ll need b/​c you need about 3″ of mulch to do an effective job and might find yourself making more trips than you thought). Bring a flat shovel too, they don’t have these to use… you have to provide your own containers and shovels. It’ll make quick, easy work and will keep your car clean, because if this stuff gets in your car’s upholstery, the stank’s never gonna come out, especially if it’s a hot day. The mulch is like shredded wood, you can see that it was once building material and sometimes has nails and such in it… if you don’t like the way it looks, get this for the free alone, pile it up about 2″ and then buy the store-​bought stuff to top it off. Personally I don’t care, it’s good stuff to me and it composts FAST… the stuff I put on about 3 weeks ago has already gone down about an inch. I do appreciate it though, it keeps the weeds down, is more attractive than bare dirt, and keeps me from watering more than I do now.
I like that they’ve created a native plant garden outside of their offices, using plants that are naturally occuring to this area as well as drip irrigation and mulch/​compost that they provide. I even took pictures of it, it was really attractive and the bees were happily buzzing about.
They have household hazardous waste/​HHW drop offs, I’ve also been to shredding events and they also take used sharps and expired meds on certain days. Staff is very polite and friendly.

By far the easiest to navigate, cleanest, friendliest dump I have encountered; and believe me… I’ve encountered.
The prices for disposal of old furniture & broken lamps is fair. Accessible recycling bins for everything else. Let’s give it up for the compost & wood chip piles!

For Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale residents, this is a great free recycling facility for e-​waste and other household waste that is not garbage friendly. Just drive in and by pass the scale and then pull into one of the parking spaces where the drop off area is. The times I have been there, the works have been friendly and professional.
According to the Sunnyvale SMaRT Station website (may change so please check):
Drop off the following recyclables at no charge:
* Aluminum and bi-​metal cansClothes and shoes
* Cooking oil*
* Electronics: computers, TVs, monitors (limit four), small appliances
* Fluorescent bulbs and tubes (20 tube limit)
* Glass bottles and containers (no auto glass, ceramics or mirrors)
* Household and auto batteries
* Mercury items: thermostats, thermometers
* Paper and corrugated cardboard
* Plastic # 1 – 7 containers
* Sharps (needles and lancets)
* Used motor oil and oil filters, antifreeze*
I am hoping that the facility disposes of the e-​waste in an environmentally friendly manner, i.e. not sending it to some third wold country where it ends up in drinking water or some place kids end up playing in it.
Verdict: If you’re a resident of the above three cities, no need to wait for those once or twice a year e-​waste collection days that other communities have. Don’t dump it in your regular trash!

*** FREE Shredding Event ***
Real simple, drive up, show your valid ID, pull up to an open shredding truck, and let them shred ALL your important documents in minutes right in front of you… for FREE!!!
This service is usually big bucks if you have paperwork (home documents, film negatives, stock/​bank statements, or anything else that contains a SS# or account numbers on them). With identity theft on the rise, don’t be careless disposing your important paperwork in the trash. Dumpster divers and white collar thieves are lurking.
This SMaRT location is only open to Palo Alto, Mtn View, and Sunnyvale residents for free. There might be additional fees if you’re not a local, double check to confirm.
I know that other cities are implementing more recycling and shredding «events» for more awareness and community clean ups!
These trucks were provided by Cintas (also known for their uniform cleaning services), but in Sunnyvale, I know Shred-​it shreds on site too! Don’t risk a company transporting it to their main facility, you never know what might happen on the way there!!! Happy Shredding!!!
2011 Free Shredding Events: 8am– Noon
April 30, July 30, and December 03

I love this recycling place because it is very organized and pay very well for your plastic bottles and can. I frequent this place once a month to recycle the plastic bottles and cans we used everyday (yes, we should cut down on those). I normally come on weekdays morning (before 10 am) where there is no one else at the station, parked my car next to the booth/​counter, picked an empty bin and empty my bags and put the bin on the weighing machine. It is very much self-​serve and once the staff weight all the bins, they will ask you to sign and tell you how much you will get.
If you not lucky, you might have to wait if someone bring over 1,000 recycle cans from restaurant and you have to wait for 20 – 30 minutes but they are fast so it is basically like Drive-​thru recycle service. Once you have the receipt, you drive to the office building to get your cash. They have special parking spot for Recycle customer on the buy back program. Love it.
I would give them 5 stars if they allow non-​Sunnyvale residents to drop the electronic stuff and the get compost for my backyard. Santa Clara and Sunnyvale are neighbor so what is the problem with us picking up some compost. Did I mentioned you that you can also drop your used batteries and old florescent bulb?

I needed a place to drop off recycling and looked up SMaRT station in Sunnyvale — the fact that they were open 7 days a week was definitely a plus since I was only able to go on the weekend.
This place is a classic example of why American’s don’t need to buy anything else and need to cut down on consumption. It’s basically an organized junk yard. It smelt really badly. The good news was they were recycling our precious lightbulbs, microwaves, old computer monitors, etc., so that we don’t harm the environment anymore than we already have.
Bottom line, if you have junk to get rid of or need a good place to drop off recycling then SMaRT station is your stop.

Funny that anyone would review a recycling station, but I felt like adding my $ 0.02 here.
This place is an excellent resource for the community. You can recycle just about anything here, and can pick up some fine compost for your garden too. In the fall and the spring they have extra dump weekends, when you can haul your oversize junk for disposal without any extra fees. It is sad, however, to see such enormous quantities of detritus being disgorged into the dump.
The only thing this place lacks is the capability to recycle expanded polystyrene (a.k.a. Styrofoam). You can always bring the packing peanuts to a mailbox-​type store or give it away on Freecycle, but the foam blocks that are commonly used to cushion electronics equipment and large appliances have no place to go. You can take it to the Palo Alto dump, though; they don’t check IDs at their recycling station.

I love the SMART station — they organize hazardous waste dumps twice monthly and you may bring just about any recyclable here for disposal for free. As others have mentioned, the facility is fairly well run, open for long hours, and comprehensive. If you have batteries in your home, bring them here for disposal! Save the planet!
The best part is they’ve gotten rid of the nasty speed bumps so my sports car that’s 3″ off the ground can actually make it into the facility.

This must be the dirtiest place on earth, or at least the Silicon Valley. But I needed to do some recycling and I googled this to be the closest location.
Like a bag lady on a Sunday afternoon, I took all the cans/​bottles/​glass that I collect in my cube to exchange for cash, so that I can fill the candy bowl that everyone steals from at work. Yes, I am subliminally promoting recycling by enticing people with candy.
As soon as I opened my trunk at the Smart Station, what must have been the most well fed fly darted it’s way in making me have to climb in to chase it out. Then 10 more flies happily rested from the heat all over my car.
But the one good thing was that this place «seems» to pay better for all the goods, than your local Albertsons. I got like 13 bucks for not a lot of stuff! They also take monitors, fluorescent lighting, microwaves, but those are only for Sunnyvale/​Mtn View/​Palo Alto residents (and they don’t pay for those.)