Help with Recycling

Here at Riderwood there are lots of way to recycle!

Recycle to Other Uses

For useful items that can be reused, consider giving them away:

Riderwood Weekly Collections

General Services Housekeeping collects recyclables twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Clean plastic containers and metal cans are recycled using the blue BINS; paper is recycled using the blue BAGS.  Check out the latest Recycle Flyer and Recycle/Trash Collection Handout.

Currently GLASS is not collected because it is incompatible with Riderwood’s contractor’s separation processes. But our local Target has bins for recycle near the front doors, one of which is for glass containers.

The other locations for recycling glass are on the University of Maryland College Park campus. There are purple containers located near each of the  three purple icons on this campus map  (behind Annapolis Hall, near Gate E of Maryland Stadium across from Ellicott Hall, and in the Golf Club parking lot).

STYROFOAM is also not recyclable here at Riderwood, but there is a drop-off facility in Crofton, Maryland.

Riderwood Recycle Rooms

There are containers in the Cart Rooms in each neighborhood.

Large containers for

  • Paper and cardboard
  • Plastic containers and metal cans
  • Plastic bags and other plastic film
  • Scrap metal (tools, utensils, pots & pans, small kitchen appliances, lamps, vacuum cleaners)
  • Sensitive documents to be shredded
  • Batteries

Small hanging bins for

  • Inkjet cartridges
  • fluorescent light bulbs
  • Sharps (needles, lancets, syringes)

Expired and Unused Medicines

Arbor Ridge collects medicines once a month, on the first Wednesday of the month. View the details here.

There is a Drug Disposal Box, accessible 24/7, at the local Montgomery County District 3 Police Station, located near the intersection of Route 29 and New Hampshire Avenue.

Electronics Collection

The Recycling Committee and Riderwood General Services are now sponsoring Electronics Collection Days – the first was held on November 3, 2022. A collection truck from A Better Way Recycling parked near the VSQ main entrance and accepted an assortment of used electronic equipment for recycling.  1959 pounds of electronic equipment was collected!  A second collection day was held in April, 2023, and the next will be in the Fall of 2023.  In the meantime, if you have electronics you need to recycle, check out the RiderwoodLife E-Cycle page.