The City of Newport’s Clean City Program will host a pair of events at Easton’s Beach this fall to help Newport residents dispose of hazardous and harder-to-recycle items.

First up will be an Eco-Depot hosted in concert with Rhode Island Resource Recovery on Saturday, Oct. 19th, from 8 a.m. until noon.

The Eco-Depot is a free service for properly disposing of household hazardous waste from Rhode Island residents. Household hazardous waste is anything labeled with skull and crossbones, or words like ‘toxic’, ‘poison’, ‘flammable’, ‘combustible’, etc.  Examples include mercury devices, automotive fluids, gasoline, propane tanks, fertilizers, pesticides, pool chemicals, and polishes.

For inquiries or to make an appointment for this event, please call Rhode Island Resource Recovery at 401.942.1430 x 3241 or visit their website for additional information at http://www.rirrc.org/.

For those interested in disposing of non-toxic household items, the City’s popular Fall Recycling Day will return on Saturday, November 9, 2024 from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at Easton’s Beach, This Recycling Day event is for “harder to recycle” items and is open to Newport residents only. Proof of residency is required.

This year, Newport residents will be able to dispose of the following:

Electronic Waste Recycling: Electronic Waste Recycling: Indie Cycle, LLC will be accepting electronic items including computers, laptops, monitors, televisions, routers, PDAs, cell phones, mice, keyboards, ink-jet printers, toner cartridges, CD/DVD players, radios, cameras, network equipment, wires, stereos, speakers, telephones, microwaves, small household appliances, and acid lead batteries such as auto/marine and back-ups.  Anything with a wire! An additional $20 disposal fee will be charged for air conditioners, small refrigerators, dehumidifiers, water coolers or freezers up to 4.5 cubic ft. and all other coolant devices. An additional $10 disposal fee will be charged for large wooden encased speakers ($5 for small), & laser-jet printers.  Please note, all above should not be actively leaking. Additional charges may apply to large copy machines and printers. Cash or check is accepted for payment. Indie Cycle does not accept light bulbs, single use batteries, fire/carbon monoxide detectors, plastic tapes/disks, glass plates or ceramic bowls, broken TV tubes or hazardous materials. For more information: www.indiecycle.com or email indiecycle@gmail.com

Paper Shredding: Bring up to 3 banker boxes of sensitive paper documents to be shredded. 3 boxes limit for each resident for shredding will be enforced. No commercial businesses accepted. ONLY sensitive documents, no magazines or newspapers.

Clothing and Textiles: Big Brothers Big Sisters of RI will be available to accept donations of clothing and other textiles. Clean textiles with tears or stains are accepted. Please visit www.DonateRI.org for more information.

Scrap Metal: Metal hangers, pots, pans, metal chains, screws, nails, and any other item that is primarily made out of metal. NO items containing Freon or hazardous waste accepted in the metal container.

Rigid Plastics: Acceptable items are 100% rigid plastic with non-plastic parts removed, empty and free of all materials and liquids, have never held hazardous materials or waste, are smaller than a 95gallon recycling/trash cart and larger than a hard hat, and are not drums or barrels of any size. Examples of items that fit the criteria include: hard hats (interior lining removed), buckets/pails (metal handles okay), laundry baskets, lawn furniture, milk/soda/beverage crates, plastic election campaign signs (wire mounting stands removed), plastic shelving, storage totes/bins/trays/lids, trash/recycling bins/compost bins, trash/recycling carts (axles, wheels and metal handles removed).  

Cardboard: Flattened cardboard only. No paper or packing materials accepted. 

Cooking Oil: There will be a collection bin for all vegetable cooking oil (dropped off in your containers) for recycling.

Bulky Waste Items for Disposal: TWO Bulky items (ex: one couch, one table) per household maximum (there is a six-item max for homeowners who own multiple homes). Proof of residency MUST be presented on the day of the event. ELIGIBLE BULKY ITEMS DO NOT INCLUDE hazardous waste (including refrigerators, air conditioners and dehumidifiers), electronics, plastic bags, mattresses or Styrofoam.

For questions about the proper disposal/recycling of items not accepted in the City-issued carts, please visit the RIRRC A-Z List: http://atoz.rirrc.org/.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...

Leave a comment

We welcome relevant and respectful comments. Off-topic comments may be removed.